Home at last: Long journey to Iraq and back ends Saturday night at Camp Pendleton

By: DARRIN MORTENSON - Staff Writer | Saturday, February 19, 2005 10:23 PM PST ∞

CAMP PENDLETON ---- Whether they were on the front line fighting through an Iraqi cemetery or back at their base keeping the generators going and paperwork flowing day after day, the Marines and sailors of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit say they earned every last bit of what they finally received Saturday.

Their hard-won prize was simply to have what they left behind nearly nine months ago: home.

"It feels even better than I thought it would," said Sgt. Daryl Miller, 24, of Rehersburg, Pa., as he held his 5-month-old girl for the first time Saturday evening at the unit's headquarters at the Del Mar section of Camp Pendleton. "Better than anything."

Miller was one of about 200 Marines who arrived at various Camp Pendleton barracks at about 6 p.m. Saturday after a 24-hour flight from Kuwait and a week of traveling and waiting after leaving their former base near Najaf in southern Iraq.

The 2,200 Marines of the expeditionary unit left San Diego aboard Navy vessels in May to serve seven months in Iraq, including one month of heavy combat in a Najafi cemetery that the top generals in Iraq say was the first significant turning point for U.S. forces against post-invasion insurgencies.

Warriors and peacemakers

After leaving San Diego on May 28, the expeditionary unit steamed toward the Persian Gulf and off-loaded the Marines in Kuwait in late June for what would become a mission of combat and humanitarianism for the next eight months.

Lt. Col. Gene Apicella, the executive officer of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, called it a "long, hard road ---- traveled well."

Almost as soon as they arrived in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, in late July, the Marines battled with the Shiite militia who controlled parts of the region.

In a month of hard fighting, at the cost of seven Marines and untold numbers of civilian lives, U.S. troops finally drove the militia out of the city in late August. Most of the fighting took place in the city's cemetery.

The top U.S. commanders say the battle of Najaf ----- especially the brutal and often hand-to-hand combat it took to wipe militia from the six-square-mile cemetery ---- was first major turning point in the post-invasion war in Iraq and was used as a model in other cities, including Fallujah.

What marked the Marines' service in Najaf ---- and to a lesser extent in the nearby cities of Karbala and Diwaniyah ---- more than the fighting, however, was their six-month drive to rebuild the city and surrounding villages.

Since the fighting ended in August, the Marines spent or assisted other agencies in spending about $36 million on projects ranging from new Iraqi army barracks to schools to water treatment plants.

They also paid residents more than $10 million to compensate for property, injuries and innocent lives lost in the fighting.

During the Marines' tenure, more than 10,000 Iraqi security forces received some sort of training and Najaf province was the first in Iraq to be turned over to local security officers.

After adding the province of Karbala to their responsibilities in December, the Marines of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit helped secure the peaceful conditions in which more than 70 percent of registered voters in the region voted Jan. 30.

"They worked their backs off for nine months in some of the toughest parts of Iraq," Apicella said Saturday. "They have a lot to be proud of."

Long way home

While the last six months were mostly peaceful and Marines said the work was rewarding, they noted that the nine-month deployment dragged on to become the longest of any Marine unit in the war.

Even during the arduous week it has taken them get from Najaf to the United States ---- wrought with endless hours of waiting, frequent changes and the ever-approaching temptations of the real world ---- made the journey difficult.

"It's just a day closer to goin' home," said Cpl. Brian Williams, 25, of Louisiana, as he ate a slice of one of the 50 pizzas the unit's command staff purchased for the Marines with leftover morale money Sunday as they waited to board a flight home from a base in Kuwait. We came here, did our jobs, and now it's time to get on home."

Within hours, they were told to pack their bags, turn in the last of their ammunition and load buses bound for Kuwait City International Airport.

Cpl. Joe Pangelinan, 23, of Saipan, sang "I'm leavin', on a jet plane ..." as he threw his stuff together on his cot. Others hauled dirty socks, T-shirts, underwear and towels to the trash rather than haul their last change of war clothes home.

As they waited, packed and then finally boarded the buses, the image of home seemed to be a different destination for everyone.

"It's carpet between my toes. It's a real bathroom ---- the little things," said Capt. Kimberly Johnson, 29, of Carlsbad a bit earlier about what she had in mind. "Sure it's about the big stuff ---- like family and everything ---- but it's all the little things."

Sgt. Sevara Rodriquez, 23, of San Antonio, said being home would mean letting her hair down and being alone for the first time in nine months.

"I wanna buy some flowers and just smell 'em," Rodriquez said.

For Corpsman Craig DeGarmo, home was a little boy.

"I'm looking forward to holding my son for the first time," said DeGarmo, whose wife Gail gave birth to their 3-month old son Christopher while he was away. "He's gonna cry a lot, I bet."

Navy Corpsman Bridgette Stone, 25, originally of the Philippines, said she was just looking forward to getting back to marry her Marine sweetheart.

"I can't think straight," said the bouncy brunette. "I'm so excited I can't sleep."

Bus ride turns boisterous

More lines and waiting were in store as the Marines were inspected and finally allowed on the buses.

The hair came down and horseplay began almost as soon as the Marines ---- wound tight under the extreme conditions of combat and danger over the last nine months ---- set out on Highway 80 south toward the airport and their "freedom bird" home.

Marines danced and sang and goofed around with seemingly boundless energy.

At opposite ends of the bus as it idled at a long stop, Cpl. Leroy Crawford and Cpl. Leonard Yandle had dance-off, outdoing each other's moves to a funky tune as their comrades laughed and cheered them on.

The Kuwaiti bus driver just smiled, making his contribution by turning up the radio on as loud as it would go until speakers crackled and buzzed.

As their bus neared the airport, the revelry was hushed by a sobering news bulletin from Iraq: about 30 people had been killed in bombings in Baghdad during celebrations of the Shiite day of Ashoura.

"I don't care!" yelled one Marine from the darkened back of the bus.

"I'm f---- going home!" yelled another.

Both voices, defiant and loud, seemed to be attempts in the darkness to reclaim lives put at risk and on hold for nine long months.

The Marines and sailors calmed as they pulled near the runway toward the plane that would take them out of Kuwait.

"That's it?" said Crawford, looking out the bus window at the World Airways MD-11 jet with its long ramps beckoning. "That's the best thing I've seen in a long while."

For their final sequence of flights, about 200 members of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit were mixed in with a hundred or so Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 5th Regiment and Combat Service Support Group 15. Both units, also from Camp Pendleton, fought and worked near the western Iraqi city of Ramadi since the summer.

At 2:30 a.m. Saturday, the plane lifted off to applause.

"I didn't think this was actually going to happen," said Cpl. Dave Ford, 21, of Marietta, Ga., as he settled in his seat on World flight 8169 bound for a seven-hour flight to Shannon, Ireland, a stop in Bangor, Maine, and, ultimately, to March Air Reserve base in Riverside County.

Warm welcome in chilly Maine

Some six hours after a brief refueling stop in Ireland ---- during which the troops were allowed to neither taste a first beer nor smoke at the airport ---- their was a flurry of excitement as the plane descended toward snowy Bangor, where it would stop for fuel.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we've just landed in the United States of America," a stewardess announced at about 9 a.m. East Coast time.

"Yeeahhh!!!" and "Oorrahh!" erupted throughout the plane, followed by clapping and cheers.

As the troops left the plane, they were greeted warmly by about 30 Bangor residents who welcomed them home with gantlet of handshakes and hugs.

"That first woman hugged me," said Lance Cpl. Jason Hougan, 22, of Long Beach, Miss., still blushing a bit as he shook more hands of veterans and Bangorians.

"It was weird," he said, collecting himself and looking a bit shocked. "I haven't been hugged in a long time."

The principal hugger ---- 90 year-old Kay Lebowitz ---- led the group of Maine Troop Greeters who invited the Marines and sailors into their "welcome room" for cookies donated by Sam's Club and to make phone calls to loved ones on dozens of cell phones donated by Unicel.

"We just want them to know we love them and that we're thankful for all they've done." she said, tearing up a bit as she returned to embrace a surprised-looking Marine who lingered over her grandmotherly hug.

The Maine greeters say they've hugged, fed and otherwise welcomed more than 152,000 U.S. service members since the 1991 Gulf War.

"It's such an uplifting feeling," said 70-year-old Korean War veteran Jerry Mundy, who also teared up a bit when he talked about helping the Marines fresh from war.

"I'm an ex-Marine, so I'm not supposed to get all mashed up about it," he said, helping a lance corporal to a cell phone. "But when you're old and fat and ugly, there's nothing else you can do but say 'thank you.' "

One last March

After one last grueling leg from Maine, the troops finally landed at March Air Reserve Base about 2:30 p.m., only to have to wait around for hours while bags were unloaded and separated into buses by the base camps at Camp Pendleton, where the troops would eventually meet family and friends.

It was anti-climactic, several of the officers said, as troops formed up with bloodshot eyes and long faces.

"It's like we keep getting closer, but we're never really there," said Staff Sgt. Chris Tomkins, 29, of Maine.

Lance Cpl. Kevin Arnold simply called the process "purgatory," but lifted his criticism when the buses finally pulled away bound for Camp Pendleton just before dark.

The moment they had waited so long for ---- sight of their home base, where family or friends or freedom awaited them ---- came softly as the Marines hung on the seat back in front of them to read gas prices, point out favorite fast-food joints or comment about how wet and green everything seemed.

Stopping to turn in the weapons they had by their sides or at the ready since June, the fact of having arrived started to set in.

"Oh my God, they brought a band," said Staff Sgt. Pedro Aquino, 28, of Hawthorne, as they rounded a corner and headed into a flood-lit field where cheering family members were nearly drowned out by a Marine marching band.

With a brief formation to dismiss the stunned-looking troops, Lt. Col. Apicella released them to the crowd.

"Welcome home," he said. "Congratulations on a job well done!"

In the scramble in the dark, Marines who were together for the last nine months separated, some leaving into the arms of loved ones, others heading off to barracks alone or with other Marines.

"I think it's starting to dawn on us," said Cpl. Irene Chan. "We're home."

After the long journey home, the field of the reunion was nearly emptied in a half hour, except for a few of the leaders who lingered a little longer.

Standing with his own family as his Marines and sailors disappeared for a four-day leave, Lt. Col. Apicella said their journey home for this group was a mission accomplished. Nearly 5,600 more troops still await their turn in Kuwait.

"It's awesome," Apicella said looking on. "It's real."

Contact staff writer Darrin Mortenson at (760) 740-5442 or dmortenson@nctimes.com.

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