Posted on: Tuesday, November 9, 2004
1,000 Kane'ohe Marines deploy to Afghanistan
| • | Loss of Marines mourned at service on Kane'ohe base |
By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer
As Alex Rios watched his father prepare to deploy to Afghanistan yesterday he thought carefully about his own set of orders.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser Rios was one of many young men who assumed "man of the house" duties yesterday as nearly 1,000 Marines from Kane'ohe Bay started to depart for Afghanistan. The second wave of Marines will leave today. The group is the first batch of Marines based in Hawai'i to deploy to Afghanistan. According to the Marines, their deployment is slated to last anywhere from six to eight months.
In all, there are more than 12,500 Hawai'i based troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Marines declined to disclose exactly where they would be stationed in Afghanistan, only saying that they would be responsible for security when they got there.
"It's our job; it's what we do," said Lambert, 32, of Corpus Christi, Texas. "The other people there already, it's time for them to see their families. It is our time."
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser Wives and girlfriends sobbed and took turns hugging their departing mates and each other as uncertainty clouded their faces.
"I support him 100 percent. He's the most committed guy I ever met," said Diane Melrose, of Des Moines, Iowa, whose husband, Gunnery Sgt. Carl Melrose, was deploying yesterday. "It is sad. He's my best friend."
Melrose and her husband have been married for three weeks.
"I'm ready," said her husband, originally from Columbus, Ohio. "I've got a lot of Marines under me, and I'll be taking care of them. The overall mission is to bring everyone back."
Few Marines said they were excited about leaving behind family and friends but reiterated that they signed up for the Corps and they have a job to do.
"I'm doing my job, that's how I feel," said Lance Cpl. Kenneth Hyde, 20, of Pennsylvania. "It's not going over there and getting shot at (that's difficult). It's leaving your family that's the hardest part there is."
While most of the Marines departing yesterday had loved ones on hand to wish them well, there were packs of younger Marines who faced their first deployment alone. Some of the them said they didn't want to talk about it, but others admitted that all they thought about was seeing their parents again.
"Hopefully everyone comes back alive and everyone is safe," said Lance Cpl. Daniel Ramirez, 20, from the south side of Chicago. "I will really miss my family."
Reach Peter Boylan at 535-8110 or pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com. Correction: Petty Officer 2nd Class James Lambert's rank was incorrect in a previous version of this story.
"I have to take care of my mom and take care of my sister while he is gone," said Rios, 10, as his father, Petty Officer 2nd Class James Lambert, stood behind him, his arms folded across the boy's chest.
Ten-year-old Alex Rios sat amid seabags quietly with his father, Petty Officer 2nd Class James Lambert, a Navy hospital corpsman, before the first wave of Marines from Kane'ohe Bay prepared to deploy to Afghanistan.
Family, wives, girlfriends, and children gathered on the hot blacktop in the commissary parking lot at Marine Corps Hawai'i in Kane'ohe right before 1 p.m. yesterday to bid loved ones and friends goodbye. Husbands wearing tan desert fatigues held babies close, whispering their love and explanations for leaving into their ears.
Lance Cpl. Romeo Chavez yesterday used a quiet moment to say goodbye to his girlfriend.
