Some of you have contributed (and very generously) to Operation From The Heart, just giving because you want to support our troops.
I found a story on Stars and Stripes that gives a pretty good idea of who these guys are, our "adopted" Marines from 2D LAR. It's not exactly Club Med over there, and our adopted Marines over in Fallujah, Iraq, truly deserve all of your donations cigars, food, drinks, socks and other donations meant to make life more comfortable for these Marines.
I can only imagine what a comfort it is to come in off of patrol and find some "love from home" waiting. The letters alone -- that human contact and messages of admiration and support must be mighty welcome.
You've given these guys a clean pair of socks to change into, some jerky to munch on when it's hours til chow time, something more flavorful to drink than canteen water when you're sweating it out in 126 degree weather... in full gear.
I know that what we send over from OpFTH is much appreciated. Reading this article, though, truly helped me appreciate just what these young men do over there day after day, night after night.
If you've contributed to OpFTH, thank you so much. If you've been saying that you'll get around to it, well, no time like the present! You can send cards/letters, or you can send donations of cigars and many, many much-needed (SOCKS!!!) items. You can send it over directly, or send it to myself or Schmitty22 -- we send out packages twice monthly, me on the first and Schmitty on the 15th.
August might be the final month for us to send things over to these guys, so if you've been wanting to get involved in OpFTH, NOW IS THE TIME.
Without further ado, though, here's the article from Stars and Stripes. If you'd like to see pics of these guys in action, check out the site at:
http://www.stripes.com/article.aspsection=104&article=22040&archive=true
Armored guardians of Iraq's Route 1
By Charlie Coon, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Charlie Coon / S&S
Lance Cpl. Ray Parra, 20, of Phoenix, and Company D, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, patrols Route 1 from atop a Light Armored Vehicle. In the background is the vehicle’s commander, Cpl. Tyler Valks, 22, of Denver.
Charlie Coon / S&S
Cpl. Tyler Valks, 22, of Denver, Colo., and D Company of the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, on patrol in Iraq.
Charlie Coon / S&S
Cpl. Miguel Forsyth, 22, of Salem, Ore., and Company D of the Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, runs back to his platoon after checking a house for suspicious activity during a patrol Sunday between Abu Ghraib and Fallujah.
Charlie Coon / S&S
A Light Armored Vehicle-25 from the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion takes a ramp off Route 1 during a patrol.
Charlie Coon / S&S
A Light Armored Vehicle, or LAV-25, from the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, in the Iraqi desert.
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq — The 20-mile stretch of highway between Abu Ghraib and Fallujah is a prime target for people who want to kill U.S. troops and disrupt convoys by planting bombs and firing rockets.
Every day and night, the Marines of Company D, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, go out looking for bombs and bad guys.
It’s their job to make Route 1 safe for truckers delivering supplies to U.S. bases.
The bad guys are invited to show their faces, but they rarely do.
“We can tear some stuff up,” said Cpl. Jermaine Whitley, 21, of Jacksonville, Fla. “We look forward to that kind of stuff. It makes the day go faster and gives us something to talk about when we get back to base.”
They are certainly capable. The Marines patrol in vehicles the Iraqis nicknamed “destroyers” during the first part of the war as U.S. forces moved north from Kuwait to overthrow Saddam Hussein.
The Light Armored Vehicles, or LAV-25s, feature 25 mm Bushmaster chain-fed guns that fire devastating one-inch thick projectiles. Each vehicle carries seven infantry-trained Marines hungry to show their power. The platoons typically go out in groups of four LAV-25s.
On most patrols, they find nothing. It can be grueling work, especially when it is performed under the hot, Iraqi sun.
During a six-hour patrol earlier this week, one of the 2nd LAR’s platoons came up empty. The wind blew nonstop at 30 mph or more and felt like a hairdryer set on “hot.” The flour-like dirt that covers Iraq flew in the wind and stuck to sweaty faces.
Inside the LAVs, where the drivers and scouts hunched for two hours or more without a break, the temperature reached 126 degrees, according to one digital thermometer.
“It’s miserable,” said Lance Cpl. John Martuszewski, a 24-year-old gunner from Riverside, Calif. “I’m not saying you can’t tolerate it or take it, but it’s not enjoyable, I’ll tell you that.
“You put on the same pair of cammies for a week straight that are soaked stiff with your sweat and salt. The next day we put them on and do it again.
“It’s our job. It’s what we do; it’s what we signed up for.”
The Marines try to strike a balance between respecting the privacy of the Iraqi people who live along the route and checking out suspicious-looking activities.
At one point while the patrol was parked at a vantage point a half-mile from the highway, a car was spotted pulling up to a house near the highway. Through binoculars, the Marines saw its driver drop off a package and quickly drive away.
A group of scouts ran across the desert to the house to check it out. They didn’t enter the house but saw nothing fishy from the outside.
The troops are trained to notice anything suspicious, such as someone digging a hole where there is no farm or someone tinkering on a roadside vehicle who suddenly stops when he sees the patrol approaching.
Stuff does happen, though.
A few days earlier, a motorcyclist sped up to a U.S. patrol and tossed a grenade into one of its vehicles, injuring three troops. A mine recently exploded under another vehicle on a side road.
Occasionally the Marines from the 2nd LAR get to go on raids, participate in light attacks and serve as infantry support for larger operations.
When one patrol returns to the base at Camp Baharia, located on the southeast edge of Fallujah, another heads out to take up the job of highway patrol, its Marines hoping to find a bomb or a bad guy.
“I think our job is to make sure nothing happens,” said Lance Cpl. Ray Parra, 20, of Phoenix. “If nothing happens, it’s a good day.”
