Hawai'i wives get 'morale call'
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
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| A Marine with Task Force Tarawa talked to his wife on a cell phone yesterday during a controlled explosion of an Al Samoud missile about 100 miles south of Baghdad. Members from Hawai'i also made 7-minute calls home.
Associated Press |
Kathy Hashimoto said the phone call at 4:45 a.m. was the first she heard from her husband, platoon commander Maj. Mark Hashimoto, since March 26, when Marines with the special operations unit pushed into Iraq.
The Kailua woman was one of the lucky ones to get the seven-minute-max "morale call." Some family members slept through the call, only to get a recorded message.
"It was wonderful, but it was very short. Seven minutes flew by," Kathy Hashimoto said. "I've heard from about four different wives, because we're trying to see if somebody got some different (information)."
What she does know is that the Hawai'i Marines were in Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad. Now they are in the north, and they've been liberating cities in between.
"He basically was telling me the morale is excellent. He can't say enough about these men; they've liberated cities," Hashimoto said. "The reception from the Iraqis has been tremendous. (The Marines) are treated like heroes, and wherever they go, people offer them money, food, water, flowers."
With the fighting all but over and some aircraft carriers heading home, Hashimoto said the Marine families are wondering when they'll get the good news.
"I think some of the wives are of the mindset, 'OK, the war is over, they should be home,' " she said. "It's difficult for them to see the whole picture of the betterment of the country."
Gunnery Sgt. Gerald Rohn, 35, was able to reach his wife at about 4:30 a.m.
John Hashimoto photo
Some families received phone calls yesterday from the Hawai'i members of the 4th Force Reconnaissance Marines, including the wife of platoon commander Maj. Mark Hashimoto, far left in back row.
"I asked him, 'When do you think you'll be coming home?' and he said, 'In two weeks, or two months,' " said Lucy Rohn, who is the "key volunteer" liaison here for the approximately 30 Marines deployed from Hawai'i. "He said, 'I'll find out in about two weeks.' (At the longest) two months is very promising."
About 23 of the company's force recon Marines, who specialize in scouting and other missions deep behind enemy lines, deployed Feb. 9 to Kuwait with about seven support personnel and 10 recon counterparts from a company detachment out of Reno, Nev. Most are reservists.
Maj. John D. Manley, a Marine spokesman at Kane'ohe Bay, yesterday said, "At this time, we have no time frame for our Marines to return from the Gulf region. They are continuing to superbly perform their duties in support of ongoing operations."
Those with the 2nd and 4th Force Reconnaissance Marines, part of Task Force Tarawa, drove from their camp south of Baghdad last week to the 82nd Air Mobile's position in Hamzah, then led the way to Diwaniyah to help liberate the city.
Mark Hashimoto told Marine Corps News the Marines were welcomed as they rolled into Diwaniyah.
"This was the first time the citizens felt safe enough to openly show support of the American forces," he said.
In a recent letter to family members, Marine Lt. Col. A.J. Copp said the force recon company in Kuwait and Iraq includes three platoons from 2nd Force, and the two platoons from 4th Force.
"Most of your Marines are supporting (Marine Expeditionary Force) operations from within Iraq, but not in the limelight as you see on TV and hear on the radio," Copp said. "... The main interest in the company is in deep reconnaissance and surveillance."
In the short time she had to speak to her husband, Kathy Hashimoto told him about their 3-year-old daughter having tea parties for the "troops," and the bathroom renovation that was started when he left and is about done now. Two Marine wives expecting babies got a quick phone call about a week ago from their husbands just to tell them that "everything is OK."
Mark Hashimoto, 39, a Marine policy analyst at Camp Smith, told his wife that the "snail mail" that finally came for the first time yesterday included letters she sent him on March 8, 9 and 10.
"He asked for local snacks, and I said there's about four boxes on the way," Kathy Hashimoto said.
Although the families of the recon Marines don't know exactly when their spouses will be returning, that hasn't stopped planning for the homecoming.
"Somebody's planning a trip to Kaua'i," Kathy Hashimoto said. "We're actually planning a trip to (Kilauea Military Camp), and somebody else has plans for a week at the Hale Koa (Hotel)."
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
Correction: The photo of Hawai'i members of the 4th Force Reconnaissance Marines was taken by John Hashimoto. The credit with the photo caption was incorrect in a previous veresion of this story.
