Two hundred Marine infantrymen of 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment who were transitioning to the civilian work force at the end of their enlistments faced a daunting choice when their unit was due for rotation back to Iraq, back to the crucible that was then Ramadi: Exercise their privilege to remain in stateside billets as short-timers and wave good-bye to their comrades as they departed for the fight, or else extend their enlistments and join them.
All 200 extended their enlistments and accompanied their comrades to Iraq for a seven month deployment. And yesterday, all 200 of them came home.
In seven months of patrolling the streets of Ramadi, once the most violent city in Anbar province, the 2nd Battalion, 5th Regiment had no Marines or sailors killed and only one injured. In its previous deployment, the battalion’s numbers were 15 killed and more than 200 wounded.
No one is saying that the presence of the 200 Marines who had extended their tours was the crucial factor in the battalion’s returning with no fatalities. No one is saying it wasn’t.
“One-hundred percent accountability. Everybody came home alive,” said Staff Sgt. Joe Flores, 33, as he embraced his wife, Yadira. “One-hundred percent.”
For those of you who haven’t had the privilege of serving alongside Marines, this is what they mean by “Semper Fi.”
God, I’m proud to be from the same country as these men.
I salute and thank each and every one of these great Marines!
The contrast between their knowledge of the situation, their wisdom, and their courage with that of the politicians is shocking. And disgusting.
Oh, that some of these Marines would sacrifice themselves to engage in the dirty combat needed to get elected to office and restore honor, courage and commitment to the ranks of our elected office holders.
These Marines damn sure deserve head of the line privileges in getting good, responsible, and well paid civilian jobs. They have worked for a pittance in life threatening conditions and have earned the best our employers can offer.
Semper fi indeed!
And, a special thank you to their families and friends, for those who watch and wait truly serve as well.
Must have been on the same lift as the first wave of 1st LAR. Casca II, and his buddy Ferg rolled in with the same smiles they left with, albeit a little dirtier and worse for the wear and tear of seven months in the dirt, and a thirty-hour movement.
Ferg is the fellow who took four AK rounds in a group that hit the earpiece of his vehicle intercom headset, his cheek about an inch from the corner of his mouth, his SAPI chest plate, deadcenter in the CVC helmet forehead where the bullet followed the curvature of his skull and melted into the kevlar at the back since it was a tracer, and one in the index finger which is still splinted.
Those rounds were the opening volley in a skirmish that left one LCpl KIA, and a Cpl & Sgt wounded too in addition to the LT. Oh yeah, five AQI KIA. Ferg killed the badguys with his LAV crew, while the C&C rig screened the Marine casualties.
Amen to that, Lex.
That’s F’n Motivating!!
Well done, Marines. Welcome home, and thank you.
I hope this keeps up — the SIL is due to go back to Iraq soon, and it would sure be nice if we didn’t have to worry quite as much as the last time. What with their new baby and all, too.
As has been said before…Where do we get such men?
Lex, remember about a month ago you said you feared for the future and I brought up my Boy Scouts? Well, here are 200 more reasons to feel good about our future.
I’m here at work, no lunch today (and not regretting it either) and snuck a look onto the site during a short break in the action.
This post brought a tear to my eye — and a good one at that. I’m talking chills, too.
You are so correct — God Bless all these Marines and all the kids that are deployed / otherwise IAed and wearing the cloth over in The ‘Box.
Now I have to stop slacking off and get back to the task at hand.
Thanks, Lex,
-SJBill
BZ, 2nd of the 5th:
“In thy face I see the map of honor, truth, and loyalty” –Shakespeare
God Bless Them.
Well said, Lex, and all. It was the summer of 2003 when my daughter, a 1st Lt. in the Army Medical Corps, followed our troops into Iraq. She was part of the 228th Mobile Combat Hospital. Unlike most of the other Army Combat Hospitals, the 228th had US Marines protecting their perimeter.
She wrote home about one encounter when the Marines took some Iraqii prisoners. Their commander, she reported, immediately sent his unit out for target practice. You know, so they could do… what Marines do best:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5e8_1191374902
The 228th was the only Army Combat Hospital that was not been attacked, out there, in that desert in Iraq in 2003. Thank you, Marines, for protecting my little girl!!!
It was Sunday I was out for a drive with my 2-year-old. We were cruising out from the busy suburbs of Chicago into the rural and gently rolling countryside of northern Illinois.
As we crossed into the tiny town of Harmony (population 421) there was a neat handmade sign announcing “Welcome Back from Iraq Jack C!”
That was neat, I thought. Never see that kind of recognition in the big city. Then another sign “Jack, Welcome Home, Thanks!” and another, and another, and then the little town was behind us, and I was very happy and proud that there are still places like Harmony, Illinois, and young men like Jack.
Capt. John W Maloney, my best friend’s brother, was the CO of Charlie 2-5. He was killed June 16, 2005 in Ar Ramadi (during their previous deployment) when the humvee he was in ran over an IED. He was the oldest of three brother marines. A great loss to our country and humanity as a whole, he was the perfect model of a great American. Everything about him was what every man should aspire to. Sadly, I have been friends with his brother since I was a tiger cub but, I never met him as an adult. I truly feel I missed the opportunity to know one of the greatest Americans of my generation. I can’t tell you enough about how outstanding he really was. I urge each of you to at least google him as he was the embodiment of excellence in every aspect of his life.
Correction: Capt. Maloney was the CO of C company 1-5. My apologies. All the talk of 2-5 had my numbers skewed.
Your last line said it very well. Always have a big grin passing a “Welcome home ” banner on Texas roads.
It is enough to ask “Where do we find such men”. It is another thing entirely to ask where we get 200 of them, as a group. In one place. At the same time. “100 percent”.
Good post, Father Lex. God Bless ‘em all. Real Men.
We aren’t worth their spit.
Subsunk
Welcome Home 2/5!
Well Done
S/F