SwiftVets.com

[SBD]

This is written by a Navy Commander at a port in Kuwait .. No commentary needed, the 3- minute read below says more than a 20- page article could about our warriors and the constitution of our men.

Where do we get such men?
**********************************
"They are so damn young"

I was going to the gym tonight ( really just a huge tent with weights and treadmills), and we had heard that one of the MEUs (Marine Exp Units) that had come out of service in the "triangle" was redeploying (leaving country). We saw their convoy roll in to the Kuwait Naval Base as the desert sun was setting.

I have never seen anything like this. Trucks and humvees that looked like they had just come through a shredder. Their equipment was full of shrapnel blast holes, and missing entire major pieces that you could tell had been blasted by IEDs. These kids looked bad too! I mean, sunken eyes, thin as rails, and that 1000-yd. stare they talk about after direct combat. Made me pretty damn embarrassed to be a "rear area warrior".

All people could do was stop in their tracks and stare... and feel like me...like I wanted to bow my head in reverence. A Marine Captain stationed with me, was standing next to me, also headed to the gym. He said, "Part of 1st Brigade Combat Team, 8th Marines, sir. Took the heaviest losses of any single unit up north as part of Task Force Danger, sir."

As the convoy rolled up, all of us watching just slowly crept toward these kids as they dismounted the Hummers and 5-tons. Of course, we were all shiny and clean compared to these warriors. This kids looked like they had just crawled from Iraq. I had my security badge and id around my neck, and started to help them unload some of their duffle bags.

A crusty Gunny came up to me and said "sir, you don't have to do that..." I said, "Gunny... yes I do..." They all looked like they were in high school, or younger!! All held themselves sharply and confident, despite the extreme fatigue you could tell they had endured. "You guys out of the triangle?" I asked. "Yes, sir". "14 months, and twice into the grinder, sir" (both fights for Fallujah).

All I could do was throw my arm around their shoulders and say "thanks Marine, for taking the fight to the bad guys...we love you man".

I looked at these young kids, not one of them complaining or showing signs of anything but focus, and good humor. 'Sir, they got ice cream at the DFAC, sir?" "I haven't had real ice cream since we got here..." They continued to unload... and after I had done my handshakes and shoulder hugs, the Captain and I looked at each other ...

They want ice cream, we'll get them ice cream. You see, a squid O-5 and a focused Marine O-3 can get just about anything, even if the mess is closed. Needless to say, we raided the closed DFAC (mess tent), much to the chagrin of one very pissed off Mess Sergeant and grabbed boxes of ice cream sandwiches (as many as we could carry), and hustled back to the convoy. I felt like Santa Claus. "Thank you, sir.." again and again from each trooper, as we tossed up the bars to the guys in the trucks. I'm thinkin', "Son, what the hell are you thanking me for? I can't thank you enough."

And they are so damned young ... I will sleep well, knowing they are watching my back tonight."

GOD BLESS THE USA & OUR WARRIORS IN HARMS WAY



Please pray on this day, and every day, for our Armed Forces standing in harm's way around the world in defense of our liberty, and for the families awaiting their safe return.


SBD

[rbshirley]

[oasis]

[Jack Hetherton, jr]

When I arrived in country in Vietnam I was a 27 year old Navy E-5 and later to E-6. Most of the men in division called me an "old man". Many of them were young teen agers right out of high school and normaly took orders from their mothers. As I was going into my second tour, I thought of that a lot. Those "kids" in one year had matured beyond where they really should have been. You are right, they were focused. They had been forced into the realitys of this world. I have always thought of them over the years. I can,t remember most of their names, but I can see their faces like it was yesterday, and I have always prayed that things went well for them. This is something I have often wished that those never in combat could understand or comprehend but they never well. We Vets have a brotherhood that is ours only. Thanks for your posting, I needed a reminding of "how it was" for our troops now . Jack H

[coldwarvet]

WELCOME HOME 330th Detachment

Posted Feb. 26, 2005

Jason Borden, a VFW member and veteran of Desert Storm, decorates trees and street lamps Friday in downtown Sheboygan along the motorcade route to be taken today by the returning 330th Military Police Detachment. Press photo/Sam Castro

Ways to welcome the 330th
• Line the motorcade route through Plymouth (Western Avenue to North Milwaukee Street to Mill Street to Eastern Avenue) or Sheboygan (Kohler Memorial Drive to Erie Avenue to North Eighth Street to Pennsylvania Avenue to the armory).

• Attend the welcome home event at the Sheboygan Armory, with free refreshments and a chance to talk with the troops.

• Send us a message to post for the troops.

• Print out a welcome-home sign to hang in a window.

For more on the return of the 330th, see our special Welcome Home section.

Motorcade broadcasts

WHBL radio (1330 AM) will broadcast live today from the motorcade route for the 330th Military Police Detachment and will provide updates of its progress en route to the homecoming ceremonies at the Sheboygan Armory.

Sheboygan Area School District Channel 20 will videotape the homecoming at the armory to be televised at a later date.

330th here today

By Emmitt B. Feldner
Sheboygan Press staff

Now that they know the approximate hour when the 330th Military Police Detachment will be coming home, family members are counting down the final hours to their long-awaited celebration.

Members of the Army Reserve unit, based at the Fale Army Reserve Center in Sheboygan, are expected to enter Sheboygan County about 3 p.m. this afternoon. A motorcade will wind through downtown Plymouth and Sheboygan before culminating in a public celebration at the Sheboygan Armory, 516 Broughton Drive.

“They will be calling us as soon as the bus is put into drive at Fort McCoy,” said Donna Thayer of Kiel, public relations chairwoman for the 330th’s Family Readiness Group. Her stepdaughter, Sgt. Kristin Thayer, is in the 330th, which has been deployed in Iraq since March. The 45 members of the detachment will be bused directly to Sheboygan, she said.

“I just can’t wait to see the expressions on their faces, and the reaction of the community,” the Rev. Tom Fleischmann said. His son Tim is a specialist with the 330th.

Family members and relatives will have to wait until the unit reaches the armory to be reunited with their loved ones. They will have a special debriefing by Army personnel at the armory at 2 p.m., Thayer said.

Meanwhile, the bus carrying the 330th will stop at Greenbush Town Hall, where the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department and other law enforcement agencies will form a motorcade to escort the unit to Sheboygan. A sheriff’s squad car will meet the bus at the county line and escort it east to the town hall.

The motorcade will travel through the City of Plymouth on county Highway C (Western Avenue, North Milwaukee Street, Mill Street and Eastern Avenue).

In the City of Sheboygan, Sheboygan Police Department units will take the lead in escorting the motorcade along Kohler Memorial Drive, Erie Avenue, North Eighth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue to the armory.

Also escorting the motorcade will be the Plymouth Police Department, Kiel Police Department, Kohler Police Department, the Rhinelander Police Department (in honor of Staff Sgt. Stephen Martin of Rhinelander, who was killed in Iraq), the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department (in honor of Staff Sgt. Chuck Kiser of Cleveland, also killed in Iraq) and the New Glarus Police Department (whose chief, Steve Allbaugh, is a member of the 330th).

“They’re homegrown sons and daughters, wives and husbands, and they are coming back home,” Sheboygan County Sheriff Michael Helmke said. “On the part of law enforcement, we do feel more of an emotional attachment (to the unit), and I think it’s significant that law enforcement will participate.” That attachment is personal for Helmke’s department, as one of the unit members is Pat Bricco, a correctional officer with the department.

When the motorcade arrives at the armory, the block of Broughton Drive in front of the building will be blocked off, and family members will greet the soldiers there before going inside for the welcome home event.

There will not be a long ceremony, Fleischmann promised. “We want to spend the time mingling, eating and having fun,” he said. Free food and drinks, including brats and hot dogs, all donated by local businesses and stores, will be available at the armory.

Mayor Jim Schramm will welcome the soldiers back to Sheboygan and introduce dignitaries at the armory, expected to include local legislators and representatives of Sens. Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl and Rep. Tom Petri.

The 330th’s commander, Brig. Gen. Michael Beasley of the 88th Regional Readiness Command, then will conduct a short program and dismiss the soldiers to their families.

Fleischmann and Thayer said, after long hard work by many people, everything is in place for today’s homecoming.

“It has gone incredibly smooth, but it wouldn’t have gone that well if we didn’t have the cooperation of the entire community and the city,” Thayer said. “We can just keep saying over and over how thankful we are and how overwhelmed we are by all the support. This was a lot to tackle for a small group.”

The unit is expected to be back in formation Sunday at the Fale Reserve Center, 2913 Erie Ave., for final processing.

Reach Emmitt B. Feldner at efeldner@Sheboygan.gannett.com or 453-5119.
_________________
Defender of the honor of those in harms way keeping us out of harms way.

"Peace is our Profession"
Strategic Air Command - Motto

USAF 75-79 Security Police