CLB-2 Marine enjoys time spent in Iraq

Marine Corps News ^ | Lance Cpl. Joel Abshier

[SandRat]

HADITHA, Iraq (Dec. 20, 2005) -- After ascending a narrow 45 degree-angled pathway, hundreds of feet above the ground, to the top of the Haditha Dam in Iraq, Cpl. Nicholas J. Essenmacher stops and points to a town on the curve of the horizon where he and his Marines will be moving to the following day.

For Essenmacher, a load master with Transportation Support Company, Combat Logistics Battalion-2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward), being anywhere else in the world just wouldn’t seem right.

“As crazy as it may sound I like being here,” said the Harbor Beach, Mich., native. “If I wasn’t already here, I would have volunteered in a second.”

Essenmacher’s primary job in Iraq is to guarantee that vehicles in convoys carrying everything from bullets to band-aids are delivered correctly to other bases as well as desired supplies for operations.

Since arriving for his second tour in August he has helped with many operations including Operation Rivergate, Operation Steel Curtain and Operations Liberty Express II and III, as well as providing assistance in the building of two forward operating bases for the Army near Iraq’s Syrian border.

“The first time I was here, nobody liked America’s presence,” Essenmacher said. “But now when we drive through the cities here, kids are smiling and waving at us. It wasn’t until that moment when I realized that we are actually doing good things.”

Essenmacher initially thought about joining the military in high school, but it wasn’t until his best friend said he was joining, that he made his final decision.

“My best friend said he was leaving for boot camp in three weeks and asked if I wanted to go,” Essenmacher said. “He is my best friend. I didn’t want to leave him hanging.”

Before arriving to his current unit, which is deployed from Camp Lejeune, N.C., Essenmacher was stationed at Camp Foster in Okinawa, Japan.

“Japan was cool,” Essenmacher expressed. “Although I like it there, I knew that the chance of deploying to Iraq was minimal.”

After arriving at Camp Lejeune in May of 2004, Essenmacher almost immediately began preparing for an upcoming deployment to Iraq that was slated for August of 2004.

“I didn’t know what to expect coming here the first time,” Essenmacher admits. “But that first deployment helped me to become a better Marine for my second tour here.”

Many of his family members have served in the military, which helped them understand why he came out here the first time, however, they are still grasping why he is here again, according to Essenmacher.

“I had to tell them that I like being here,” Essanmacher said. “Its something that is hard to explain to someone who has not been here yet.”

At the end of the successful Operation Liberty Express III, Essenmacher, as well as dozens of other Marines who participated in the operation, made camp at the base of the Haditha Damn, which was located mere miles away from the Iraqi poll sites.

Whether it was sleeping in a tent or on the hood of a humvee, Essenmacher knew that Iraq was right where he wanted to be.

Atop the damn at the mouth of the Euphrates River, Essenmacher said with a wry smile, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

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