This is one of the first stories I wrote while I was deployed to Iraq. I tried to find it on the Marines website, but there were problems with the servers back then. If I remember correctly, there was a bunch of stories lost when they switched to the new servers.
Reading this brings back a lot of memories for me. I hope the Marines in this story will someday come across the story. I haven't heard from them since I conducted the interviews.
CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (April 25, 2005) – “We just heard a boom and saw a flash of light,” said Pfc. Gregory Fino, a 24-year-old reservist from Pittsburgh. “Everybody’s nose and mouth started bleeding from the shock waves. It felt like hot water running down my face.”
With II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) in control of operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom 04-06, Marine reserve units from across the United States are being called upon to fight alongside active-duty Marines in the Global War on Terrorism.
Marines from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, are spending their days in Iraq at Forward Operating Base, Camp Hit.
“Being at the FOB makes you understand what you’ve got at home,” said Pfc. Shane P. Ott, a New Castle, Pa., resident. “It’s not maltreatment; it just makes you appreciate what you’ve got.”
“We’re allotted nine liters of water a day for hygiene,” added Fino. “We don’t take showers everyday out there, but we’ve got bunk beds and mattresses so nobody is complaining. At least we’re not sleeping on dirt floors and we’ve got hot food for breakfast and dinner.”
The Marines at Camp Hit eat Meals, Ready-to-Eat for lunch.
“From what I’ve been told, things have drastically improved at Camp Hit,” said Fino. “I was told that Marines were eating MREs three times a day out here until recently.”
When the fire team of five Marines, which Ott and Fino belong to, were conducting cordon and knock operations in the city of Hit, Iraq, this week they came under attack from insurgents firing mortar rounds.
“I never thought we would be hit by a mortar,” said Ott, a 19-year-old New Castle, Pa., native. “We’ve heard about it; we just hadn’t seen it. You can’t do anything about mines, Improvised Explosive Devices or mortar attacks. It’s something you know could just happen.”
The fire team, comprised of Cpl. Michael Pasquarelli, a North Huntington, Pa. native and fire-team leader, Lance Cpl. Gregory Candelario of Cabins, W.Va., and Pfcs. Adam McCann, who hails from Cleveland, Ott and Fino, are all infantry riflemen.
The Marines of the fire team have become a very close-knit family, according to Fino and Ott.
“We’re always playing jokes on each other,” said Ott. “I’ve only been with the unit since December, but we’re all basically each other’s best friends. If we’re going somewhere on base it is always the entire fire team going.”
The Marines were walking back to their Amtracs recently after finding rifles and 155mm artillery rounds when the mortars hit the ground between the Marines and their Amtracs. Pasquarelli dragged McCann into one of the Amtracs and then directed the attention of the rest of the Marines and Corpsman to his team, who were seeking cover in a garage.
“It was almost like the movies…” said Fino. “Everyone thought they had shrapnel in their face, but it was just from the nose bleeds. Once we figured out what happened, we just took off running to find cover. Then another mortar round hit in pretty much the same spot.”
“Every Marine is a rifleman;” is the creed the Marine Corps has lived by since its inception in 1775. Due to current conditions in the world, an even newer creed has been adopted by the Corps; “Every Marine is a Combat Lifesaver.”
“We’ve all been given CLS classes,” said Fino. “There are designated CLS Marines, but we all know basic first aid. When we were being treated, Corporal Pasquarelli was wrapping up Marines and even one of the sergeants was in there giving first aid.”
“We knew what it was that hit the ground in the city,” said the 19-year-old Ott. It was really good the way we reacted. We could have been ambushed at any time while we were being treated at the site. I kept my [Squad Automatic Weapon] next to me the entire time. I wanted to make sure if we were ambushed I could take care of my fellow Marines.”
Except for Pasquarelli, the remaining four of the Marines were evacuated from the city to the Surgical Shock Trauma Platoon here. Three of which had to endure surgery to remove shrapnel, some still undecided as to whether the shrapnel will stay inside the Marines’ bodies, or if the SSTP will be able to remove it without doing any further damage.
“Candelario got hit the worst,” said Fino. “We could just tell because he wasn’t talking to [me and Ott]. When the [corpsman] came in I told him to treat somebody else because I knew I was going to be okay.”
“He came over to me and I told him to treat Candelario,” said Ott. “He wasn’t talking so we knew instantly something was wrong.
“The worst part of taking cover in that garage was there were three Iraqi guys in there,” continued Ott. “They were smiling and laughing at us. Once I pointed my SAW at them they ran off, but I kept an eye on them because I didn’t trust them.”
Trust is the most important quality Marines need to maintain with one another in a fire team. Not only do the Marines in a fire team rely on each other on the battlefield, but for motivation, moral support and someone to talk to in times of need.
“We keep each other motivated,” said Ott. “I mean, even after all of this, we’re all still upbeat because we’re all together. We’re not sure if we’re going to go home, but for right now we’re all together, except Corporal Pasquarelli. He is back at the FOB. If you had talked to any of us back at the FOB and the other three were wounded and here, it would be totally different.”
While back at the FOB, thinking of home, talking to families and spending time together keeps these Marines from becoming caught up in the doldrums of war.
“We usually spend time at the internet and phone centers talking to our families,” said Ott, speaking of daily activities before the explosion.
“Well, that or thinking about going home,” said Fino. “I know we’ve only been here for a little over a month, but being here you appreciate everything at home even more. I miss my family and girlfriend.”
The Marines are thankful to be alive and gave credit to the Sailors of the SSTP.
“The medical staff here is fantastic,” said Ott. “They had two docs up all night to make sure we were okay. They didn’t sleep at all.”
“And the corpsmen did a great job during the attack,” added Fino. “The entire team out there was awesome. Security was set up so the corpsmen could do their job and we were all safe. The Medevac getting us here was really fast. We realize that we were fortunate, but it was something we knew was possible going into the city.”
Fino continued, “It feels good knowing there are corpsmen and a medical staff here to take care of us and get us back into the fight.”
Monday, June 6, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
A Month of Sundays
I was out golfing the other day, and I used the term "'coons age". My buddy says, "I've never heard that before." Which is mostly my fault because I had not used that phrase in a month of Sundays.
In other news, I have been working at Snap Social Media for the time being. I'm helping out with odds and ends until next week when I start my job as a corrections officer. I'll be working with the DOC at the St. Cloud facility. I'm mildly nervous about it. I have no idea what to expect. I mean, other than I'll be on the right side of the bars.
I've been hanging out with my little brother quite a bit lately. I took him to his first Twins game at Target Field. We went to get some food. In typical 8-year-old fashion, he wanted a pretzel with cheese, purple Gatorade and cotton candy. By the end of the sixth inning the kid was running up and down the aisles, wanting to go up to the concourse for fun and cheering for more cotton candy. The best, and worst, part of the night was when he started messing with the vendors. They would come by with their coolers filled with whatever was in there, and he would yell out he wanted something. They would look to see who said it. Meanwhile, he's hiding behind me.
We left before the game was over; before the Twins were able to blow the lead, too.
After that it was a crazy night. Who knew there was so much "culture" in Robbinsdale, MN. I know it wasn't Whizbang Days, but it was close.
We put tick repellant on Rock because we were pulling ticks off him before bed and first thing when we would wake up. Now the ticks are crawling on me. I've had so many that were just crawling around on me I can't shake the creepy crawly feeling. Bleh...
I don't know why, but the SyFy channel is constantly playing the original Star Trek movies. I have been watching so much William Shatner Imnearlytyping.... just.... likehim. Yeah, read it again.
I've also started posting pictures to this crazy little photo service called PicPlz. Talk about a fun way to manipulate photos to make them look terrible.
My brother and I did a ride on our bikes the other day. I'm guessing his iPhone 4 has a better GPS than my Nexus One. But why wouldn't his work better. Google touted the Nexus One as the iPhone killer. It wasn't. So Google dropped support for it. Now, the only way to get customer support for it is by calling HTC. The hours for receiving customer support seem to only be when I don't call them. Every time I have called there was no answer. My phone has become the bastard child of every company who had anything to do with it.
Back to the ride, according to iPhone 4, we logged 24.28 miles. Our average pace was 3:40 per mile. According to Bastard Child One, we only accomplished 21.69 miles and our average pace was 4:05. This makes me question the accuracy of my phone's GPS. How many miles have I actually run, and what has been my real pace? I've been taking this whole running thing seriously this summer. I started blogging about it, but I wasn't keeping up with it. I'm still running, though. I'm just not telling everyone about it. I'll post whether or not I fail to reach my goal. I've got a lot of miles left, and time is running out faster than I thought it would. Oh well, that just means I have to start taking longer runs. I did a six mile run last week. It was the loop I had set as a goal. Well, mini-goal accomplished. Now, I just have to run it faster.
Well, Star Trek: The Motion Picture is starting. I'll be lost in space where no man has gone before for about two hours. Check back later.
In other news, I have been working at Snap Social Media for the time being. I'm helping out with odds and ends until next week when I start my job as a corrections officer. I'll be working with the DOC at the St. Cloud facility. I'm mildly nervous about it. I have no idea what to expect. I mean, other than I'll be on the right side of the bars.
I've been hanging out with my little brother quite a bit lately. I took him to his first Twins game at Target Field. We went to get some food. In typical 8-year-old fashion, he wanted a pretzel with cheese, purple Gatorade and cotton candy. By the end of the sixth inning the kid was running up and down the aisles, wanting to go up to the concourse for fun and cheering for more cotton candy. The best, and worst, part of the night was when he started messing with the vendors. They would come by with their coolers filled with whatever was in there, and he would yell out he wanted something. They would look to see who said it. Meanwhile, he's hiding behind me.
We left before the game was over; before the Twins were able to blow the lead, too.
After that it was a crazy night. Who knew there was so much "culture" in Robbinsdale, MN. I know it wasn't Whizbang Days, but it was close.
We put tick repellant on Rock because we were pulling ticks off him before bed and first thing when we would wake up. Now the ticks are crawling on me. I've had so many that were just crawling around on me I can't shake the creepy crawly feeling. Bleh...
I don't know why, but the SyFy channel is constantly playing the original Star Trek movies. I have been watching so much William Shatner Imnearlytyping.... just.... likehim. Yeah, read it again.
I've also started posting pictures to this crazy little photo service called PicPlz. Talk about a fun way to manipulate photos to make them look terrible.
My brother and I did a ride on our bikes the other day. I'm guessing his iPhone 4 has a better GPS than my Nexus One. But why wouldn't his work better. Google touted the Nexus One as the iPhone killer. It wasn't. So Google dropped support for it. Now, the only way to get customer support for it is by calling HTC. The hours for receiving customer support seem to only be when I don't call them. Every time I have called there was no answer. My phone has become the bastard child of every company who had anything to do with it.
Back to the ride, according to iPhone 4, we logged 24.28 miles. Our average pace was 3:40 per mile. According to Bastard Child One, we only accomplished 21.69 miles and our average pace was 4:05. This makes me question the accuracy of my phone's GPS. How many miles have I actually run, and what has been my real pace? I've been taking this whole running thing seriously this summer. I started blogging about it, but I wasn't keeping up with it. I'm still running, though. I'm just not telling everyone about it. I'll post whether or not I fail to reach my goal. I've got a lot of miles left, and time is running out faster than I thought it would. Oh well, that just means I have to start taking longer runs. I did a six mile run last week. It was the loop I had set as a goal. Well, mini-goal accomplished. Now, I just have to run it faster.
Well, Star Trek: The Motion Picture is starting. I'll be lost in space where no man has gone before for about two hours. Check back later.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
I'm so lucky!
How are you today?
WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER
Address: No. 5 Western Avenue Cotonou,
West Africa, Republic Du' Benin
Tel: (+229) 98836350
Dear: Customer,
Information reaching us from our corporate headquarters here in Porto - Novo, the capital state of Benin Republic, states that you only have 48hours to effect your payment for the updating of your mtcn# number to enable you cash up your first $6000 from your total fund of ( seven hundred thousand united state dollars) since you are finding it difficult to make this payment we have decided that you are to go ahead and pay whatever you have out of the total fee of $200 required for the updating fee since you are not able to come up with the required charge. But mind you, no amount below $50 will be accepted so we expect you to pay whatever amount from $50 and above. You are to pay what ever you have for the updating fee and we will activate your mtcn# number upon receipt of this payment.
Be informed that you will have to pay the balance fee of your updating upon cashing up of your first $6000 also i am using this medium to inform you that failure to pay the balance charge will leave us with no option but to deactivate your mtcn# number of which you will and can never cash up the balance fee, i want you to send the updating and activation fee with the information bellow.
Receiver:
Dominic Okechukwu
Country:
Cotonou / Benin Republic
Text Question: Transfer Code ?
Answer: 001
AMOUNT SENT:
Please any amount you send let us know but remember what so ever amount below $95 will not be accepted. You can send us the payment informations immediately you send the money. Immediately we confirm the activation fee we will send you the first receipt of your $6000 at the same day. Regards Mr. GOODLUCK ANDERSON from western union money transfer office Porto-Novo Benin Republic.
In addition to this, we have decided to compensate our entire client due to their inability to pay the requested fee from the authorities, the compensation started this morning been 20th of Febuary and it will end on 28 Febuary 2011 by reducing the high cost to low amount.
As the matter of fact, the transferring fee and all cost requested from the authorities has been cut down to any amount as you can afford and that is only money you have to pay to receive your payment because the transferring of your funds were approved and signed as well and we do contacted you today for your immediate attention over it.
Note that anything that has the beginning is also has the end in that case, first come first serve.
Western Union Money Transfer Service Office.
You are entitle to receive your payment today if you do send the money today as well
We are waiting to hear from you today with the fee to enable this department to release your payment immediately.
Look forward for your anticipated response.
Best Regards;
Mr.GOODLUCK ANDERSON
Tel: (+229) 98836350
WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER
WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER
Address: No. 5 Western Avenue Cotonou,
West Africa, Republic Du' Benin
Tel: (+229) 98836350
Dear: Customer,
Information reaching us from our corporate headquarters here in Porto - Novo, the capital state of Benin Republic, states that you only have 48hours to effect your payment for the updating of your mtcn# number to enable you cash up your first $6000 from your total fund of ( seven hundred thousand united state dollars) since you are finding it difficult to make this payment we have decided that you are to go ahead and pay whatever you have out of the total fee of $200 required for the updating fee since you are not able to come up with the required charge. But mind you, no amount below $50 will be accepted so we expect you to pay whatever amount from $50 and above. You are to pay what ever you have for the updating fee and we will activate your mtcn# number upon receipt of this payment.
Be informed that you will have to pay the balance fee of your updating upon cashing up of your first $6000 also i am using this medium to inform you that failure to pay the balance charge will leave us with no option but to deactivate your mtcn# number of which you will and can never cash up the balance fee, i want you to send the updating and activation fee with the information bellow.
Receiver:
Dominic Okechukwu
Country:
Cotonou / Benin Republic
Text Question: Transfer Code ?
Answer: 001
AMOUNT SENT:
Please any amount you send let us know but remember what so ever amount below $95 will not be accepted. You can send us the payment informations immediately you send the money. Immediately we confirm the activation fee we will send you the first receipt of your $6000 at the same day. Regards Mr. GOODLUCK ANDERSON from western union money transfer office Porto-Novo Benin Republic.
In addition to this, we have decided to compensate our entire client due to their inability to pay the requested fee from the authorities, the compensation started this morning been 20th of Febuary and it will end on 28 Febuary 2011 by reducing the high cost to low amount.
As the matter of fact, the transferring fee and all cost requested from the authorities has been cut down to any amount as you can afford and that is only money you have to pay to receive your payment because the transferring of your funds were approved and signed as well and we do contacted you today for your immediate attention over it.
Note that anything that has the beginning is also has the end in that case, first come first serve.
Western Union Money Transfer Service Office.
You are entitle to receive your payment today if you do send the money today as well
We are waiting to hear from you today with the fee to enable this department to release your payment immediately.
Look forward for your anticipated response.
Best Regards;
Mr.GOODLUCK ANDERSON
Tel: (+229) 98836350
WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Should I Port My Number to Google Voice?
URL: http://gizmodo.com/
I've been thinking about doing this a lot. I don't know if it is worth it after reading the article. Who knows, maybe at some point I will, but it seems like a big hassle. I've got an android phone, and you'd think it should be fairly easy to make it work seamlessly. Who knows.
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jzgr
1st Run
So tonight I started on my arduous journey of running 500 miles before I turn 30. It was a hard fought 1.41 miles. But, I've got the first 1.41 miles in the bag. That's the good news. The bad news is I only have 214 days before I turn 30. That's 2.33 miles per day if you do the math. I'm already behind on mileage per day.
I shouldn't have waited until I got home from work to start the run. If I had run this morning, albeit in the fog, I think it would have gone better. It was really warm and the sidewalk had frozen spots of water on it. The little patches of ice definitely made it interesting. It was dark and poorly lit, and once in awhile those patches would remind me to slow down.
I had a running partner tonight. Rock, my American bulldog, joined me. He needed the exercise, too. He's been cramped up in the new townhouse, and we haven't gotten him to the dog park lately. He's such a good runner. I have to drop the leash though when I run with him. You know, he stops to do his business, and being the bad dog owner that I am, I let him do his business while I keep running. Hey, he always catches up. Besides, would you pick up dog poop and then run with it? I have a hard enough time picking it up and putting it in the garbage.
Well, anyways. Tonight was the first step in fulfilling my goal. I had been talking big at work; I'm going to run five miles tonight. No, that didn't happen, but I made sure to get in some progress. Five hundred still seems like 498.59 miles away though.
I shouldn't have waited until I got home from work to start the run. If I had run this morning, albeit in the fog, I think it would have gone better. It was really warm and the sidewalk had frozen spots of water on it. The little patches of ice definitely made it interesting. It was dark and poorly lit, and once in awhile those patches would remind me to slow down.
I had a running partner tonight. Rock, my American bulldog, joined me. He needed the exercise, too. He's been cramped up in the new townhouse, and we haven't gotten him to the dog park lately. He's such a good runner. I have to drop the leash though when I run with him. You know, he stops to do his business, and being the bad dog owner that I am, I let him do his business while I keep running. Hey, he always catches up. Besides, would you pick up dog poop and then run with it? I have a hard enough time picking it up and putting it in the garbage.
Well, anyways. Tonight was the first step in fulfilling my goal. I had been talking big at work; I'm going to run five miles tonight. No, that didn't happen, but I made sure to get in some progress. Five hundred still seems like 498.59 miles away though.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Worldometers - real time world statistics
This is crazy! It keeps a running tally on all sorts of things. Check it out and look at things like new book titles published this year compared to blog posts today.
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/aps0v
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Midwest Marines: Today's incentives for a job well done
Apathy has sunk its claws deep into the ribcages of today's youth. We need to turn this around before it is too late for the future generations.
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bnd7l
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