BRING ON THE GERIATRICS!
Conquistador
Desperate, They are calling in the Geriatrics brigade.
Older and wiser: Seabees in Iraq By Charlie Coon, Stars and Stripes
http://stripes.com/photos/22685_69144637b.jpg Charlie Coon / S&S
Petty Officer 3rd Class Steve Christian, 39, of the 14th Naval Mobile
Construction Battalion, grinds brackets to be used to attach armor to
Humvees at al-Asad, Iraq.
http://stripes.com/photos/22685_6914488b.jpgCharlie Coon / S&S
Master Chief Beryl Millard, 57, of the 14th Naval Mobile Construction
Battalion, on a bulldozer at al-Asad, Iraq. Millard operates a 40-ton crane
at his job back home in Tampa, Fla.
http://stripes.com/photos/22685_69145157b.jpgCharlie Coon / S&S
Petty Officer 1st Class Jacqueline Icard, who turns 51 later this month, is
a builder with the 14th Naval Mobile Construction Battalion in al-Asad,
Iraq.
http://stripes.com/photos/22685_69145442b.jpgCharlie Coon / S&S
Chief Petty Officer Michael Proctor, 40, of Pelion, S.C., is the steel
worker chief for Naval Mobile Construction Battalion No. 14.
AL-ASAD, Iraq ? In the faces of the boys at the chow hall, Teresa Dougherty
sees her own son.
?And I think, -Please don-t let him join the Marines,-¦ she said. ?I
wouldn-t want him here.
?I look at it from a mom-s point of view.¦
There are a lot of moms in the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion FOURTEEN.
Dads and grandparents, too. The average age of these Seabees is 41. When
they were called to war, they left a lot behind.
Dougherty, a single mom and fifth-grade teacher from Jacksonville, Fla.,
worries that her teenagers are staying up too late. She-s 45. Jacqueline
Icard of Marathon Key, Fla., has children older than many of the troops
fighting here. She will turn 51 later this month.
Almost all of the NMCB-14 are reservists. They have houses and jobs and
families and lives that they left back home.
About 70 Seabees are stationed at al-Asad, a former Iraqi air base. Most of
the rest of the battalion is stationed to the east at al-Ramadi.
Their mission is to build things for the Marines and projects for the Iraqi
people as needed.
Petty Officer 1st Class James Boglarsky, of Bradenton, Fla., said if
anything makes him glad to be here, it-s helping out his ?brother Marines.¦
He-s in charge of moving people and pallets to where they belong. Some of
the packages are small, such as care packages from home. Others are large,
such as buckets for excavators. Coordinating flights is hard because the
schedules are so secretive.
?You got the wood coming over in one pile and the nails coming over in
another,¦ he said. ?We-ve just got to make the piles meet.¦
At 38, Boglarsky is a kid among the 14th Seabees, but he isn-t a kid to his
three grandchildren.
?A lot of us do this on the outside already; we already know construction,¦
said Chief Petty Officer Michael Proctor, 40, of Pelion, S.C., whose job
back home is to oversee buildings and maintenance at a local college.
Being older has its advantages. Older people rely less on manuals and more
on smarts, according to Petty Officer 1st Class Danny Stapleton, 54, and
grandfather of five from Tampa, Fla.
?We don-t follow military regulations the way our so-called leaders do,¦
said Stapleton, a mechanic. ?We get the job done, whether we-ve got the
parts or not.
?The kids don-t have that these days. They-re not taught how to think and
make [stuff] work.¦
The old Seabees don-t jump out of the back of trucks and kick down doors.
Instead, Petty Officer 3rd Class Steve Christian grinds brackets in the
100-degree sun.
Christian, 39, owns his own appliance-repair business in Orlando, Fla. He
said the kid Marines call him, ?Sir.¦
?I-m just an E-4 like most of them,¦ Christian said. ?But I don-t tell them
that.¦
The brackets and bolts he grinds aren-t just any parts. They will be used to
attach armor to Humvees, and maybe they-ll save a life.
?That helps,¦ he said. ?For me, that-s really doing something for the
cause.¦
The old Seabees don-t know everything.
When they began arriving in March, they didn-t know much about convoys in
Iraq and improvised explosive devices and people who wanted to kill them.
?We have several projects outside of camp where we run supplies and
materials,¦ Proctor said. ?We had two [Seabees] killed on the 30th of April
by an IED.
?These people still get on the vehicles and brave it out there knowing the
dangers. I respect every one of them.¦
Five more sailors were killed during a May 2 mortar attack, bringing the
total number of Seabees killed during their 2+ months in Iraq to seven.
Photos of the deceased are displayed proudly and sadly at the al-Asad
headquarters.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Alberta Davis has the job of making people feel
better. She is a chaplain-s assistant who is ?41 and proud of it.¦
Young troops, she said, worry about things such as whether they should
re-enlist. Davis tells them they should if they don-t have a better plan.
Older troops already have plans. They-ve just been put on hold.
Proctor recently missed his daughter Beth-s high-school graduation. The
family e-mailed him some pictures.
Christian said he-s losing $3,500-$4,000 per month by not tending to his
small business.
Davis said older troops just want to get home safely.
?Once you get older, there are real fears in life,¦ she said. ?You have more
to go back to.
?When you-re young, you think nothing is going to happen. When you-re old,
you know something could happen.¦
Lt. j.g. Christopher Lynch, 40, a married father of four young children, has
the job of running the al-Asad detachment.
?I just treat them like the skilled tradesmen they are,¦ he said.
The oldest Seabee in Iraq might be 57-year-old Beryl Millard, a master chief
who looks a little like Clint Eastwood. Millard operates a 40-ton crane back
home in Tampa. Here, he operates smaller heavy equipment. Child-s play.
?One guy at the fitness center asked me if I was a two-star general,¦
Millard said. ?I told him, -No, but I-m old enough to be.-¦
http://home.fuse.net/paragon/banner_freedom.jpg
__________________
Liberty and Justice for All.. The Great American Lie. U.S. Occupation:
Slightly less cruel than Saddam (but working on it).
French Lover Boy
"Conquistador"
Could you pull your French pink undies down just a little further?
Oh yes YES that's it! you little French Man cutey.
French Lover Boy
Tilly
> Desperate, They are calling in the Geriatrics brigade.
> Desperate, They are calling in the Geriatrics brigade.
Does this mean you will be going?
Tilly
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.703 / Virus Database: 459 - Release Date: 11/06/04
French Lover Boy
"Conquistador"
Post them, you little French heart throbber.
French Lover Boy
Conquistador
"Tilly" <Bri...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:paYyc.1802$s52....@news.xtra.co.nz...
> Conquistador wrote:
> > Desperate, They are calling in the Geriatrics brigade.
> > Desperate, They are calling in the Geriatrics brigade.
>
> Does this mean you will be going?
>
> Tilly
thanks!
French Lover Boy
Geezers, you little French Man cutey.
You can really huff & puff up your little chest.
could you post your infamous French flag with your brave words?
French Lover Boy
French Lover Boy
"Conquistador" <pinksp...@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:psYyc.8111$Y3....@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
You don't have to post frenchy lies, (that cute little frenchy Chirac will do that)
Your frenchy words are just right.
Just keep your little frenchy chest huffed & puffed up.
French Lover Boy
Riain Barton
"Conquistador" <pinksp...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:psYyc.8111$Y3....@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
|
Conquistador
"Riain Barton" <ri...@columbus.rr.com> wrote in message
news:mw0zc.34709$Oa7....@fe1.columbus.rr.com...
> LIAR!!!!
P O O F T E R!
Jim E
> Desperate, They are calling in the Geriatrics brigade.
> Desperate, They are calling in the Geriatrics brigade.
>
Why not, our geriatrics are better fighters than young stupid arabs.
Jim E
Jim E
Jim E