War-tempered Marines find downtime is no good time

Virginian-Pilot (Hampton, VA) ^ | 22 April 2003 | Dennis O'Brien embedded with Task Force Tarawa

[COBOL2Java]

NEAR KUT -- An idle mind being the devil's playground, Charlie Company's demons have had ample room to roam of late.

After five days parked outside Kut awaiting orders, these men are going stir-crazy. Marines do not suffer inactivity well.

At first, the downtime was welcome. Knowing their light-armored vehicles weren't rolling right away meant Marines could string rope between them to use as clothesline, and they did laundry.

They took showers. They cleaned weapons. They built fires at night in the windswept desert.

And despite orders to stay away from the roadside cigarette dealers, because those hawking smokes could easily be terrorists, some Marines discovered that the vendors had access to other vices -- rotgut whiskey and gin.

So around some of those fires fueled by tumbleweed scrub and meal wrappers, a few Marines drank -- a forbidden offense punishable by a hung-over day of foxhole digging if discovered by the platoon sergeant, and worse if discovered by the captain.

Mail has started dribbling in, but the men know it is only a fraction of what has been sent. A package recently arrived that was sent "Priority Mail" -- on Feb. 14.

This extended stop also has given the Marines time for reflection, in some cases too much time. Several say they were better off when they were getting shot at. Do they really believe that? Maybe not, but it sure sounds like it when they say it.

There has been time for the men to warm their war-chilled blood with phone calls home on the company's satellite phone. The calls remind them of how much they miss home and how much those at home miss them. And they realize that although life back home is not as dangerous as it is here, it is often more complex -- and sometimes just as cruel. One Marine who called his girlfriend for Easter learned that she was pregnant with another man's child.

So the minds wander. The Marines wonder if what they are waiting for is a mission -- or orders home. They speculate about when they might get back to the people they wait hours to call once a month.

And now, with the only gunshots being those that ring in memory, they talk about the fighting and unknowingly begin to refine their war stories. Right now, it is just coarse conversation; eventually, it will be lifetime memories -- and nightmares.

"Did you smoke that dude or did I?"

"Did you know that the scouts said they found a woman and children among the dead there?"

"How about that one kid in the back of the van that was carrying all those RPGs on the north end of An Naz? Yeah, you could tell it was a kid because the hips were so much smaller than the other two charred bodies in there. There were no faces, just smoking bones. Looked like spare ribs or something."

"How many people do you think we killed over here?"

"Hey, did you see how long it took for that one Iraqi dude to die after we shot him in the no-man's land? It took like four hours. He was just rolling around. We probably should have shot him again to end it."

They talk about when they were scared, who shot what and when, who was cool under fire -- and who panicked.

On and on they talk in hushed tones about death and killing as they wait to use the phone.

When it's their turn to call, they get up excitedly and flip a mental switch: No more war talk. They punch in the numbers, listen for the ring, and then: "Hi, it's me! I'm fine, how are you?"

After a bit, they disconnect with home and they rejoin the conversation here. And they say how they are never, ever going to talk about this godforsaken place when they get back.

Killing time is something these Marines were never trained to do.

[COBOL2Java]

Staff writer Dennis O'Brien is with Task Force Tarawa in Iraq. He has been with the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based Marines since they left the coast of North Carolina in mid-January.

[MEG33]

These are the memories only those who have been there can help with.May they heal and know we appreciate their service.

[joesnuffy]

And now that the VA has ended any kind of medical privacy...dont seek help there or suffer the consequences

[joesnuffy]

And now that the VA has ended any kind of medical privacy...dont seek help there or suffer the consequences

[Aaron0617]

One Marine who called his girlfriend for Easter learned that she was pregnant with another man's child.

Now why did she do that? Why do women feel the need to do this when men are in a war zone.

I think it was Chiliote (CNN embeded) who mentioned a 101rst suicide due to a dear john letter. Plus there was a Marine suicide 2 weeks ago thats still under investigation.

[dwilli]

When combat troops go into cruise mode there is much too much time to think and the edge is lost. The days of living
on adrenalin end and the crash happens.

[Bobber58]

Dad was 28th infantry recon(bloody bucket brigade) medic through the Hertgen and captured in St. Wiltz? at the Bulge...one story involved a german coming out of a foxhole who wouldn't surrender...they set up next to it for days and laughed as his body, at the edge of the foxhole, slowly bloated and slipped back in..."See, ya shoulda surrendered...look at what it got you..."...he said that once a guy started taking offense to the constant verbal assaults guys threw at each other, he'd snapped and needed to be sent back..never has forgiven himself for having to decide who lived and died.

[Archangelsk]

Grunts will always be grunts (God love 'em), but they will never be saints. As for the Marine whose girlfriend got pregnant, that's what Jodies are all about.

[dwilli]

I haven't heard anybody mention Jodie in many years, I had forgotten about him.

[Ecliptic]

Marines should know: Ain't no use in calling home, Jodie's got your girl and gone...

[Blood of Tyrants]

Soldiers and Marines were never meant to be peace keepers. Their job is to kill people and break things. They need to be pulled out as quickly as practical and sent home to train for another war on another day.

[Jewels1091]

You know, my Uncle is over 80 years old, was in WWII for over 3 years gone and fighting. He saw some terrible things, so bad that he went blind for 6 weeks while in Europe, (now we know it was his brain saying that it just couldn't take anymore, back then they had no clue what was wrong)when he got his sight back, they sent him right back to his unit. and he has talked more about that war watching this war than any of us can remember. My cousins don't talk about Viet Nam either...only one still hits the deck at loud fire works.

[Archangelsk]

The trauma that returning Gulf Vets will experience is very real. The reason why the vast majority of combat vets do not talk about their wars is because they want to forget what they've seen. Anytime you hear a grrr-woof (sorry Fred Reed) talk about combat in glowing almost orgasmic terms take it with a grain of salt that the closest this wannabe has ever gotten to war has been through his TV set.

[KantianBurke]

"One Marine who called his girlfriend for Easter learned that she was pregnant with another man's child. "

Poor bastard. How do fellow soliders try to buck up a fella after that bit of news comes across?

[MSF BU]

It may be more a reflection of who the guy dates. Let’s face it, many of the young women today live lifestyles similar to the pornography (soft and hard) so many of them grew up watching. It is the sad truth.