"I've been meaning to write."

"I've been meaning to write."

And unfortunately, things have gotten a bit hectic. Good hectic, though.

More will come soon.

"How can a body withstand this?"

To love life, to love it even when you have no stomach for it,
And everything you've held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
Your throat filled with you, its tropical heat,
Thickening the air, heavy as water,
More fit for gills than lungs;
When grief weights you like your own flesh,
Only more of it, an obesity of grief,
You think, 'How can a body withstand this?'
Then you hold life like a face,
Between your palms, a plain face,
No charming smile, or violet eyes,
and you say, 'Yes, I will take you, I will love you again.'

- Ellen Bass

"As we're escaping, ghosts of the past sleep lightly, so mind the floor boards."

"As we're escaping, ghosts of the past sleep lightly, so mind the floor boards."

From an article in the Honolulu Advertiser:
"An eight-month deployment that was never supposed to leave the Pacific took the Hawai`i-based Marines instead to Iraq and the worst corner in the war on terror - Fallujah."

The article below is about a friend of Casey's, Maher. Casey told me recently that there is a boy he sees in the chow hall sometimes who looks so much like Maher, this Marine could be Sean's twin.

Although he has called present-day Iraq a "vacation," of course in comparison to Iraq in 2004- early 2005, Iraq today is a vacation, I have to wonder what kind of memories are drudged up for him on a daily basis.

Even more, he's back at the same place where the helicopter crash happened and Darrell was lost (amongst his other friends, but Darrell being his closest). I did not know the helicopter went down so close to CKV until just a couple weeks ago. Worse yet, I didn't know 1/3 had the memorial at CKV. I have to wonder how it felt for him to come back there after the time away...after everything that happened.

Awhile back, I tried to look Fallujah up on Google Maps and it didn't come up (not the satellite imagery, anyway). I tried again a moment ago and everything is there. Highway 10 shows up like a beacon, as well as the clover area where the friendly fire incident previously mentioned happened.

My thoughts are so jumbled, and mixed up when it comes to this time. I have flashbacks of making stockings for Casey and I during the holidays, even though there was no chance of him being home for the holidays (even at the beginning of the deployment I knew that, but it was our first holiday season married). Or I remember getting a call after weeks of not hearing from Casey at Wal-Mart and dancing in the isles because I was so happy to hear from him.

Or sitting on the floor of my bedroom for hours just staring out the windows. I hadn't slept that night, and CNN was blaring in the living room. This was at the height of the battle. I hadn't been able to talk to Casey since several days prior. So many people can remove themselves from others' pain, but I am not one of them. It is either a curse or a blessing. It makes me compassionate, but causes me pain. Knowing that these men were fighting, being forced to take lives, being scared for themselves and their brothers, it was all encompassing for me. But no one more than the Marines themselves, of course.

(photo credit Associated Press)
U.S. Marines line up during a memorial service for 31 servicemen at Camp Korean Village, near Ar Rutbah, western Iraq.

From Casey, 10 December 2004 via USPS:
Right now I am in a building in downtown Fallujah. 1/3 is moving into this area and building a firm base. It never fails, every time I write you, we get incoming. I'm back. All the rounds hit outside the firmbase, so on one was hurt.
I really hate this place.

___________________________________________

Hawai`i Marine dies in ambush
Illinois native, killed near Fallujah, was to leave Iraq in 2 days
BY WILLIAM COLE, Advertiser Military Writer
Fallujah has snatched the life of another Hawai`i Marine, just two days before he was scheduled to leave Iraq. 

Lance Cpl. Sean P. Maher, 19, of Grayslake, Ill., was killed Wednesday in an ambush just outside the city that in November saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war.
"He was driving a Humvee. He was the driver and it was at night, and they were ambushed by small-arms fire," said his aunt, Pam Colin, who was at the Mahers' home in Grayslake yesterday.
Colin said the family was told another Marine also was killed in the firefight, described as a bloody skirmish in the city where so many U.S. service members have died. 

The Pentagon yesterday had not identified the second Marine, and Marine Corps Base Hawai`i at Kane`ohe Bay had no information on a second casualty. 

When the Mahers learned their son was not among 26 Hawai`i-based Marines and a sailor killed in the Jan. 26 crash of a CH-53E helicopter in western Iraq, they breathed a sigh of relief.
The young Marine, who graduated from high school in 2003 and arrived in Hawai`i in February 2004, was excited to finally be leaving Iraq. 

"He wanted out of that hellhole - were his words," Colin said. 

Instead, Dan Maher opened his door on Thursday to a lieutenant colonel and a gunnery sergeant, who caught the Marine's father as he nearly fell to the floor, she said.
Sean Maher, a high school football player who also was on the swim and track teams, joined the Marines after he saw the invasion of Iraq on TV in March 2003, his aunt said. He reported to San Diego five months later, and trained at Camp Pendleton to become a mortarman.
"His mother did ask him if he had any doubts about (being a Marine), and she said there was silence for a moment and he told her, `No Mom, I have none. I'm doing what I want to do.' "
For the Marine Corps base, Maher's death was still more bad news. 

Besides the helicopter crash that killed 26 Marines with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, eight were killed in a suicide car-bomb attack on Oct. 30. Eleven others have been killed in Iraq - almost all in Fallujah. About 1,000 Hawai`i Marines deployed to Iraq in September.
Maher's death brings to 78 the number of service members with Hawai`i ties who have been killed in Iraq, Afghanistan or Kuwait since the Iraq war started nearly two years ago. 

"It feels almost like you are surrounded by (death)," said Sarah Carter, whose husband, Lance Cpl. Joshua Carter, is with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment stationed here, but who is in Okinawa. "Every time you start to move on to a different stage of grieving, you're brought face to face with yet another death, and you start the process all over again." 

The Armed Services YMCA, which created a fund for the families of Marines who died in the helicopter crash, has collected about $5,000, and has about $3,000 in a fund for wounded Marines. 

Like the 1/3 Marines who died in the helicopter crash, Maher was a veteran of house-to-house fighting in Fallujah in November. 

The Pentagon said 71 U.S. soldiers and Marines were killed in Fallujah, and 450 were wounded. Officials estimated more than 1,200 insurgents were killed. The Mahers knew Sean had close calls, but didn't know the details. 

"We never got that from him," Colin said. "What he told me was, Aunt Pam, `I've seen the whites, I have seen the enemies' eyes,' and that's about all we wanted to know."
She said the family is "doing as well as can be expected." Maher's older brother, Danny, 22, is in the Navy and is based in San Diego. He was being flown home by the Marines to be with family. 

At Warren Township High School in Illinois, where Maher was well known, and his 16-year-old sister, Katie, is a student, counselors were called in Thursday. 

Maher loved living in Hawai`i, loved to surf, and was planning on teaching his sister after stops in Kuwait and Okinawa before arriving back here, his aunt said. His parents also were planning on meeting him here. 

Colin said the family has differing views on the war, "and that really hasn't been discussed, so it's really good to just leave that part of it alone."
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.

"This is for the white in your eyes."

"This is for the white in your eyes."

Because of the holidays and the intensity of fighting still through the month of December, a memorial service wasn't held by the regiment until January for the Marines we were losing. We had one in November for those lost through that time. This one in January was for those lost since. I always sat with a few of my close friends at these. My two closest friends, Judy and Joleene, couldn't be there that day, so it was just me.

We only got to honor a few of the Marines that we lost that day. We had a memorial service in November for 12 (I believe) others that we lost prior. The memorial services tore your heart out. Our regimental commander, Col. Jeffrey Patterson, was a truly amazing man. The Corps hadn't hardened him over the years. He was still a person. He stood up there before us each time we had a service, knowing he was talking to widows and fatherless children, spouses of Marines still in danger, and each time he delivered an amazing speech, touching each and every one of us. He once referred to the Marines in 1/3 as "Jedi in green."

When I entered the base theater for this one, I knew I was going alone -- so I was relieved to see Tia. We sat together, held hands as Chaplain Brown led us in prayer, and internally thanked God and every other imaginable deity that our husbands had survived, thus far. To most, this won't make sense, but there were times I wished Casey would get hurt so that he could go to a hospital and be safe. I would wish he'd break a limb, or something that would incapacitate him short term because of my overwhelming fear of losing him. Of course, reflecting on it afterward, it seems so silly and irrational. But in the midst of weeks without talking to him, relying on the news for any information on him and his unit, and watching as Marine after Marine died...the heart has a way of invalidating any semblance of reason the mind may hold.

Tears formed in Col. Patterson's eyes as he recounted his interactions with the families of the Marines memorial was paid to at this service. He choked up and paused several times while talking about LCpl. Downey, amongst others.

Aaron, the Marine in the photo below, was a good friend of Casey and me. One night, when I was feeling especially low, Casey called him to come spend some time with me. This was only a short time of 1/3 left the island. I had no friends or people to keep me company. I spent most of the days on the phone with my family and my best friend, trying to keep my social skills in tact and feel like I wasn't entirely alone. Thank goodness for Aaron.

We had talked on the phone a few times afterward, but I had gained a few friends on the island by that point and wasn't as needy as I was in July. Aaron proved to be a remarkable friend to Casey and me both. I was so relieved to see a tried and true friend at the memorial service that day, someone who knew my husband and knew how much I loved him and knew how hard it was for me to be without him. Aaron knew how scared I was, I think he was scared for them too. Aaron was originally with 1/3. He was fapped to 2/3 before 1/3 deployed. Casey and Aaron were in the same platoon together for a long time. Aaron's brothers were dying and in danger. I never asked, largely in an effort to avoid striking a nerve, but I think it was hard for Aaron to not be with our guys. I think it was even harder for him to attend the memorial services and see our Marines dying, his fellow Marines dying, and not being able to do anything.

I understand I was not and am not in the Corps. I was so young when he left, and when he came back I was an adult. In ten months, I aged five years. The people that I met during my time as a 1/3 spouse, the ones that kept me from myself, will always have a special place in Casey and my lives.

These were the days that reminded us that we were not immune from the tragedy and the level of fighting that was affecting each and every one of our Marines, at anytime that CACO could be on our front step.

And this memorial service was just 13 days before the helicopter crash.

"So this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be."

Friday, January 14, 2005

THE WAR IN IRAQ

---

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Leis draped the portraits of 10 soldiers killed in Iraq during yesterday's memorial service at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe.

---

10 soldiers are remembered for
paying the ultimate price

By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

As more than 800 Kaneohe Marines solemnly honored 10 comrades killed in Iraq since Nov. 8, Col. Jeffrey Patterson reminded them that "freedom isn't free."
"In fact, it's so precious, it cost the lives of these 10 brave men," the commanding officer of the 3rd Marine Regiment told the fatigue-clad, close-shaven Marines in the Marine Corps Base Hawaii auditorium.
Nearby on a stage, 10 sets of boots, rifles and helmets sat behind a large photograph of each man, draped with a purple orchid lei.
Patterson also thanked wounded Marines and sailors who were in the audience. Some of them just recently returned from Iraq.
"The Bible says that no greater love has man than to lay down his life for his brother. The Marines and sailor whose pictures you see on this stage exemplify that," Patterson said.
A total of 19 soldiers, one sailor, 17 Marines and one civilian with Hawaii ties have been killed in Iraq since the war started in March 19, 2003. Of the 38 deaths in Iraq, 35 were due to hostile action.

---

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Crystal Hines, whose husband, Cpl. Casey Hines, is currently in Iraq, wept on the shoulder of Cpl. Aaron Green.

---

Beyond the common denominator of giving their lives for their comrades, each of the fallen honored yesterday was unique, Patterson added. He and other Marines who served with the fallen offered tidbits about each:
» Lance Cpl. Jeffery Blanton, 23, of Fayetteville, Ga., was married to an Army soldier who was serving in Afghanistan at the time of his death in Iraq. "I guess you can say serving your country was a family affair," Patterson said, acknowledging Amber Blanton in the audience. "I want to thank you for being here."
» Lance Cpl. Aaron Pickering, 20, of Marion, Ill., nicknamed "Slick" for evading trouble, was a former all-state golfer who learned the game from his mother. Cpl. Scott Gatto praised Pickering as "a religious man" who encouraged the reading of Psalm 91 before each mission and spoke highly of his family.
» Cpl. Michael Cohen, 23, of Jacobus, Pa., told his mother he loved Hawaii and wanted to stay here and study to be a nurse or medical technician after his Marine service.
» Lance Cpl. David Branning, 21, of Cockesville, Md., was a talented visual arts student.
» Lance Cpl. Brian Medina, 20, of Woodbridge, Va., liked to share the latest hip-hop moves with fellow Marines but had an intense desire to serve his country. "To me he was the kind of person that legends were made of," Lance Cpl. Michael Erdman said.
» Lance Cpl. Michael Downey, 21, of Phoenix died at Bethesda Naval Hospital, 11 days after being shot by a sniper's bullet, with his parents by his side. "His mother told me that he loved being a Marine, that he loved our way of life," Patterson said, breaking down in tears.
» Lance Cpl. Franklin Sweger, 24, of San Antonio loved the science of chemistry and wanted to become a chemist.
» Petty Officer 3rd Class Julian Woods, 22, of Jacksonville, Fla., wanted to be a Marine but joined the Navy out of respect for his father being a career Navy man. When assigned as a medical corpsman for the Marines, Woods told his mother it was "the best of both worlds." He left behind a 3-year-old daughter named Israel.
» Lance Cpl. Blake Magaoay, 20, of Pearl City was a local boy who loved surfing and the outdoors and who returned to battle in Fallujah twice after being wounded. "His family said his heart was as big as all outdoors," Patterson said, "and I will tell you that heart is shared by every member of his family and that the apple didn't fall very far from the tree."
» Sgt. Rafael Peralta, 25, of San Diego was a Mexican immigrant who enlisted the day he received his green card, and earned U.S. citizenship while in the Marines. After Fallujah insurgents shot him in the face as he entered a room, Peralta smothered a grenade blast with his body, thereby saving others in his squad and earning recommendation for a Medal of Honor.

---

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Somber U.S. Marines attended a memorial service yesterday at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe for 10 soldiers with Hawaii ties killed in Iraq.

---

"History is full of battles that changed the course of the world," Patterson said, citing Gettysburg in the Civil War and the landing at Inchon in the Korean War as examples.
"I believe the Battle of Fallujah (in November) will go down in history as one that helped turn the tide in the war against terrorism," he said. "The bravery of these Marines inspired many Iraqis to stand up to the terrorists."
Lance Cpl. Cody Alt permanently lost vision in his left eye and was wounded in the leg during fighting in Fallujah. "It's a small price I paid for freedom," he said after yesterday's service. "These guys gave the ultimate price."
Said Master Sgt. Lloyd Williams after the service: "I think it's important that we remember these guys. We're all brothers. It's very important for Marines to see this type of ceremony. It hits home that we are there -- in Iraq -- and reality is hitting."

---

The U.S. soldiers honored yesterday

» Lance Cpl. Aaron C. Pickering: 20, of Marion, Ill., died Nov. 10 as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines in Kaneohe.
» Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Julian Woods: 22, of Jacksonville, Fla., killed Nov. 10 in Fallujah. Assigned as hospital corpsman to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines in Kaneohe.
» Lance Cpl. David M. Branning: 21, of Cockesville, Md., killed Nov. 12 in Fallujah. Assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines in Kaneohe.
» Lance Cpl. Brian A. Medina, 20, of Woodbridge, Va., killed Nov. 12 in Fallujah. Assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines in Kaneohe. (No photo available.)
» Sgt. Rafael Peralta: 25, of San Diego, killed Nov. 15 in Fallujah. Assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines in Kaneohe.
» Lance Cpl. Michael A. Downey: 21, of Phoenix died Nov. 19 at National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., from wounds received in enemy action Nov. 11 in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment from the Combat Engineer Battalion in Okinawa, Japan. (No photo available.)
» Cpl. Michael R. Cohen: 23, of Jacobus, Pa., killed Nov. 22 in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines in Kaneohe.
» Lance Cpl. Blake A. Magaoay: 20, of Pearl City, killed Nov. 29 in Fallujah. Assigned to 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division in Camp Pendleton, Calif., but attached to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines during the battle for Fallujah.
» Lance Cpl. Jeffery S. Blanton: 23, of Fayetteville, Ga., died Dec. 12 as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar province. Assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines in Kaneohe.
» Lance Cpl. Franklin A. Sweger: 24, of San Antonio died Dec. 16 as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar province. Assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines in Kaneohe.

1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment
www.mcbh.usmc.mil/3mar/1dbn/1-3%20INDEX.htm
Marine Corps Base Hawaii
www.mcbh.usmc.mil

6 November 2004

Posted on: Saturday, November 6, 2004

10,000 U.S. troops to retake city
By Jim Krane
Associated Press Writer

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq — Long convoys of American soldiers and Marines rolled onto a dust-blown base on the outskirts of Fallujah today and U.S. warplanes intensified attacks in preparation for a major assault on the city that has come to symbolize Iraqi resistance.

After months of negotiations, more than 10,000 American troops were massed for an expected offensive, and Iraq's prime minister warned the "window is closing" to avert an attack. U.S. planes dropped five 500-pound bombs at several targets in Fallujah early today, as well as leaflets urging women and children to leave the city.

The U.S. military said the main highway into Fallujah has now been completely sealed off. As pressure mounted on the guerrilla stronghold, the insurgents struck back, killing one U.S. soldier and wounding five in a rocket attack. Clashes were reported at other checkpoints around the city and in the east and north of Fallujah late in the day.

Among the massed American troops are about 1,000 Marines of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment from Kane'ohe. They lost seven of their own last weekend when a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden SUV into their convoy, killing eight Marines and wounding nine.

"They're ready to go," Staff Sgt. Jason Benedict of Bravo Company, who suffered burns on his left arm in the attack, said on Wednesday. "I'm ready to get back in with them."

The assault is expected to be a bloody one, and the combat hospital on the chief U.S. base near Fallujah has set up a morgue and doubled its medical staff.

The hospital — a low concrete building announced by a sign saying "Cheaters of Death" — added a Marine Mortuary Affairs team last month, a unit charged with identifying dead troops, cataloguing their personal effects and preparing their bodies for the flight to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

In hospital parlance, those killed in action are known as angels. In last weekend's suicide bombing, the dead and wounded came to the hospital. "We took care of angels and wounded on that one," said Commander Lach Noyes, a Navy surgeon. The hospital's daily toil is grim. Patients arrive with devastating wounds. Common procedures include amputations or stabilizing broken bones or torn organs.

"The first patient I had was six hours after I got here," said Capt. Eric Lovell, a Navy doctor. "His heart was out of his chest."

Like Benedict, many of the Marines still recovering said they were eager to rejoin their units and hoped to fight in the assault on Fallujah.

"I'm nervous for them, but I know for a fact they're going to tear the place to pieces," Lance Cpl. Nicholas Peel said on Wednesday. "It's kind of a justice after what they did to us."

Dennis Astor, a Navy medic attached to Bravo Company, was thrown clear of the truck during the suicide bombing and knocked unconscious. He suffered burns on his hands and face, and a shrapnel wound to his forehead.

"I don't think I'm really going to make it to the big battle because my wounds really aren't healing that fast," he said on Wednesday. "I'm kind of disappointed. Those are my friends."

If they fight, American troops will face an estimated 3,000 insurgents dug in behind defenses and booby traps. Military planners believe there are about 1,200 hardcore insurgents in Fallujah — at least half of them Iraqis. They are bolstered by cells with up to 2,000 fighters in the surrounding towns and countryside.

"A military operation is the last and only solution we have for the city of Fallujah," said Salih Kuzaie, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry yesterday. "The negotiations failed. ... It seemed like the Fallujah people are helping the terrorists. Thus, the military solution will end the crisis."

A source close to Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who was scheduled to return last night to Iraq from a diplomatic trip to Europe, said there is no longer any point to the negotiations. Allawi must give the final go-ahead for the offensive, part of a campaign to curb the insurgency ahead of national elections planned for January. Sunni clerics have threatened to boycott the election if Fallujah is attacked, and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned U.S., British and Iraqi authorities that a military campaign and "increased insurgent violence" could put elections at risk. Allawi has demanded Fallujah hand over foreign extremists, including Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his followers, and allow government troops to enter the city.

"We intend to liberate the people and to bring the rule of law to Fallujah," Allawi said in Brussels after meeting with European Union leaders. "The window really is closing for a peaceful settlement."

Allawi, a secular Shiite Muslim with strong ties to the CIA and State Department, urged Europeans leaders to forge a "close and strategic partnership" with Iraq and called on NATO to step up plans to train 1,000 officers a year for the Iraqi military. EU leaders responded with a nearly $40 million offer to fund elections, including training for Iraqi vote monitors.

The Los Angeles Times and Washington Post contributed to this report.

"There's a flutter in my chest."

"There's a flutter in my chest."

In the beginning, there was so much conflicting information. We didn't have any idea what was going on. This article, which was featured in Hawaii Marine, just added to our confusion.

1/3 strikes from the sea with 31st MEU

Marine Corps News

Submitted by: MCB Camp Butler
Story Identification #: 200471502846
Story by Lance Cpl. Joel Abshier

CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, Japan - (July 13, 2004) -- More than 1,000 Marines and sailors with 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment from Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, arrived Okinawa for a six-month Unit Deployment Program tour as the battalion landing team for the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.

The infantrymen will be joined by artillerymen, amphibious assault and light armored vehicles to serve as the ground combat element for the 31st MEU.

"The Marines and sailors are expected not only to train hard, but also to be ready to form a combat-ready cohesive warfighting team as a part of the 31st MEU," said Lt. Col. Michael R. Ramos, commanding officer.

The Marines and sailors of BLT 1/3 were on Okinawa from April to Nov. 2003, as part of a previous UDP tour where they participated in exercises throughout Asia. From training at the Jungle Warfare Training Center on Camp Gonsalves to training in the blistering terrain at Mount Fuji, the Marines and sailors of BLT 1/3 are preparing themselves for combat, Ramos explained.

"Our great nation is at war and has been since Sept. 11, 2001," Ramos said. "This war has placed great demand on Marines and sailors, and this battalion landing team is well prepared to fulfill any duty given to us."

Within a week of being on Okinawa, the unit has not taken a break from training. Going through the gas chamber and achieving their battle sight zeros on Camp Schwab's rifle range, the servicemembers are aggressively training, said Maj. Adin M. Pfeuffer, operations officer.

"If BLT 1/3 goes to a combat zone, I will feel comfortable because of the training and the Marines in my unit," said Lance Cpl. Kentrell J. Allen, bulk fuel specialist. "I trust the men next to me, which makes us a family."

Ramos said his Marines and sailors want to do their part for their country.

"They have been preparing themselves for a long time to reach this moment in achieving combat readiness," Ramos said. "BLT 1/3 did not come here to go the Post Exchange, the base theater, to enter ourselves into a softball tournament, or to eat yakisoba. We came here because Okinawa is on the way to Iraq."

"These are just moments. I struggle with the in-betweens."

"These are just moments. I struggle with the in-betweens."

On my way out of Honolulu for the 2004 holidays, I grabbed a Marine Corps Times to read on the flight home. It was Thanksgiving Day, 2004.
HNL to PDX.

I hadn't been able to speak to my love in quite sometime. In the meantime, this incident had happened.

Sadly, it was our own that caused the scare. A US Army artillery unit responded to illumination rounds being fired from the 81mm POS with a battery of howitzers. I have been informed that a battery of howitzers is typically three, and that in a counter-battery response, it is a three round fire for effect of each gun. An estimated ten rounds were fired. Casey told of grabbing his flak and throwing it over his head and crawling into a pit.

One of our dearest friends told me that for the longest time afterward, he would have a panic attack when he would go off to pee. A break to relieve himself is what saved his life. He was sleeping just before the fire. Where he was sleeping was torn to shreds by the rounds; where his head laid was just scraps of fabric left over. Where Casey and other Marines were, pieces of howitzer shells were scattered. Huge scraps of metal resembling a crudely crafted steak knife...

Many Marines in the platoon were injured from the incident, some severely. One of the injured was the platoon commander, Lt. Hollopeter.

It could have been infinitely worse. And it was sad that it was some of our own that dealt the blow. I just have to wonder why no one checked for friendlies in the area before sending counter-battery. That question remains unanswered all these years later. There a many other questions that still remain unanswered, this one is unfortunately low on the list.