thedrifter
07-26-08, 06:11 AM
Marines depart for Iraq
Comments 0 | Recommend 0
1-2 infantry battalion is headed to Anbar province for seven months
July 26, 2008 - 12:08AM
SUZANNE ULBRICH
DAILY NEWS STAFF
D'Avion Beamon, 7, said she's going to miss beating up her dad.
Cpl. Nathan Beerbower said he will miss his 3-week-old baby Morgan.
And Lt. Col. Timothy Winard will miss the birth of his son, due in five weeks. The soon-to-be-father and his wife Lisa plan to name the baby Luke.
Each of the families and Marines of 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment will be impacted in its own way as the roughly 1,000-person battalion heads to the Habbinyah area of Iraq's Anbar province. Friday, 40 members of the battalion said goodbye to family and friends at Camp Lejeune before leaving for the seven-month deployment.
Winard said the infantry battalion has been training for this deployment since October 10, 2007.
"Oftentimes battalions don't get as much time to prepare. We've managed to get 10 months of standard deployment training, so we're ready to go," he said.
The departing Marines make up the battalion's Headquarters Company, and include 1st Lt. Michael Jankovic, the battalion's adjutant, who was deploying for the first time.
"I'm ready to go. It's time to leave. After all the work-up on training, there comes a time when it's time to go," he said.
He said the most important things he is taking with him are the guys in his unit. Besides family and friends, what he'll miss the most about home is watching the Red Sox playing baseball and the World Series.
Sgt. Allie Gibson said this is his third deployment, but it's the first deployment for Talisha, his wife of nearly one year.
"I found out a week before the wedding date I was going to be recalled," Sgt. Gibson said. "It's kind of a struggle since (my wife is) new to everything."
"I just want him to be safe and hurry back," Talisha Gibson said. "I will be worrying about him and all the guys over there."
Sgt. Gibson's mother-in-law, Lynn Penny, said she hates to see him go.
"I'm sad, but proud," Penny said. She said she will spend time with her daughter and try and keep her busy to help the time go by quickly.
Sgt. LaVoris Beamon also is deploying for the first time.
"I'm tired of the anticipation and ready to go," he said. "And, I'm ready for it to be done and over with."
His daughter D'Avion said she'll miss "beating up on her dad," but mostly she'll miss playing with him. His wife Sherika hopes the time goes by quickly.
"I'm really going to miss just having him around," she said.
Capt. Kirk Johnson, deploying for the second time to Iraq, will become a first-time father soon after he returns.
"We just found out we have one on the way," he said.
"Hopefully he'll be home before the baby is born by about a month and a half," said his wife Chayenne.
"I feel more prepared this time after going through it, but it never gets easier leaving," Johnson said. "We have family nearby, which will help her make the time pass by ... I've also asked for a lot of pictures."
He said he and his wife use e-mail a lot and are thankful for that means of staying in touch.
"We're really blessed with the technology - within 48 hours you get the e-mails, which is really great, and we utilize that quite a bit to stay in touch," he said. "We still do old-fashioned letter writing too, it's just nostalgic to do it - I have a grandmother I send letters to also, and she just loves getting them, even though it takes much longer," Johnson said.
Lance Cpl. Randy Schauss and girlfriend Jamie Maikranz held each other tightly Friday. It is Schauss's first deployment. He said he was anxious to go, but also anxious to get back.
"I am anxious to see what it's going to be like, because I've been training and want to see what I've been training for - all my hard work," Schauss said. "But this is the farthest I have ever been away from home, so that's the hardest part, and leaving Jamie."
Cpl. Nathan Beerbower's first child Morgan, born on the Fourth of July, made it tougher for him to leave. His wife Ashley said she would be sending packages, letters and lots of pictures to keep him updated on the baby.
Beerbower said the hardest part of being in Iraq is dealing with the tedium.
"You get in a routine, and it can drag on day after day," he said. "Here we had a normal work day and went home, this will be seven months straight and you can only play the same game of spades and listen to the same song over and over again for so long."
Lisa Winard will deliver son Luke in about five weeks, without her husband, which will be hard for both of them, though it is his second deployment to Iraq and second child.
"Absolutely, it is hard to leave," said Winard, the battalion commander. "When Lily (almost 4) was born, I was able to be around for at least 15 months after she was born, which was a blessing. But it's no different than what many Marines have to go through.
"It's challenging, but we have good family support, and it's all the gals who are special - who can send their husbands off, have a child, and take care of their children while we're gone, and I have a very special gal, that's for sure."
Contact Topsail area reporter Suzanne Ulbrich at sulbrich@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8466. Visit www.jdnews.com to comment on this report.
Ellie
Comments 0 | Recommend 0
1-2 infantry battalion is headed to Anbar province for seven months
July 26, 2008 - 12:08AM
SUZANNE ULBRICH
DAILY NEWS STAFF
D'Avion Beamon, 7, said she's going to miss beating up her dad.
Cpl. Nathan Beerbower said he will miss his 3-week-old baby Morgan.
And Lt. Col. Timothy Winard will miss the birth of his son, due in five weeks. The soon-to-be-father and his wife Lisa plan to name the baby Luke.
Each of the families and Marines of 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment will be impacted in its own way as the roughly 1,000-person battalion heads to the Habbinyah area of Iraq's Anbar province. Friday, 40 members of the battalion said goodbye to family and friends at Camp Lejeune before leaving for the seven-month deployment.
Winard said the infantry battalion has been training for this deployment since October 10, 2007.
"Oftentimes battalions don't get as much time to prepare. We've managed to get 10 months of standard deployment training, so we're ready to go," he said.
The departing Marines make up the battalion's Headquarters Company, and include 1st Lt. Michael Jankovic, the battalion's adjutant, who was deploying for the first time.
"I'm ready to go. It's time to leave. After all the work-up on training, there comes a time when it's time to go," he said.
He said the most important things he is taking with him are the guys in his unit. Besides family and friends, what he'll miss the most about home is watching the Red Sox playing baseball and the World Series.
Sgt. Allie Gibson said this is his third deployment, but it's the first deployment for Talisha, his wife of nearly one year.
"I found out a week before the wedding date I was going to be recalled," Sgt. Gibson said. "It's kind of a struggle since (my wife is) new to everything."
"I just want him to be safe and hurry back," Talisha Gibson said. "I will be worrying about him and all the guys over there."
Sgt. Gibson's mother-in-law, Lynn Penny, said she hates to see him go.
"I'm sad, but proud," Penny said. She said she will spend time with her daughter and try and keep her busy to help the time go by quickly.
Sgt. LaVoris Beamon also is deploying for the first time.
"I'm tired of the anticipation and ready to go," he said. "And, I'm ready for it to be done and over with."
His daughter D'Avion said she'll miss "beating up on her dad," but mostly she'll miss playing with him. His wife Sherika hopes the time goes by quickly.
"I'm really going to miss just having him around," she said.
Capt. Kirk Johnson, deploying for the second time to Iraq, will become a first-time father soon after he returns.
"We just found out we have one on the way," he said.
"Hopefully he'll be home before the baby is born by about a month and a half," said his wife Chayenne.
"I feel more prepared this time after going through it, but it never gets easier leaving," Johnson said. "We have family nearby, which will help her make the time pass by ... I've also asked for a lot of pictures."
He said he and his wife use e-mail a lot and are thankful for that means of staying in touch.
"We're really blessed with the technology - within 48 hours you get the e-mails, which is really great, and we utilize that quite a bit to stay in touch," he said. "We still do old-fashioned letter writing too, it's just nostalgic to do it - I have a grandmother I send letters to also, and she just loves getting them, even though it takes much longer," Johnson said.
Lance Cpl. Randy Schauss and girlfriend Jamie Maikranz held each other tightly Friday. It is Schauss's first deployment. He said he was anxious to go, but also anxious to get back.
"I am anxious to see what it's going to be like, because I've been training and want to see what I've been training for - all my hard work," Schauss said. "But this is the farthest I have ever been away from home, so that's the hardest part, and leaving Jamie."
Cpl. Nathan Beerbower's first child Morgan, born on the Fourth of July, made it tougher for him to leave. His wife Ashley said she would be sending packages, letters and lots of pictures to keep him updated on the baby.
Beerbower said the hardest part of being in Iraq is dealing with the tedium.
"You get in a routine, and it can drag on day after day," he said. "Here we had a normal work day and went home, this will be seven months straight and you can only play the same game of spades and listen to the same song over and over again for so long."
Lisa Winard will deliver son Luke in about five weeks, without her husband, which will be hard for both of them, though it is his second deployment to Iraq and second child.
"Absolutely, it is hard to leave," said Winard, the battalion commander. "When Lily (almost 4) was born, I was able to be around for at least 15 months after she was born, which was a blessing. But it's no different than what many Marines have to go through.
"It's challenging, but we have good family support, and it's all the gals who are special - who can send their husbands off, have a child, and take care of their children while we're gone, and I have a very special gal, that's for sure."
Contact Topsail area reporter Suzanne Ulbrich at sulbrich@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8466. Visit www.jdnews.com to comment on this report.
Ellie