POLITICS1
Goes to War with the
1st Battalion/23rd Marine Regiment
Editor's
Note: Politics1 "adopted" the 1st Battalion/23rd Marines
-- an infantry regiment of reservists from Texas (and neighboring
states) deployed to Iraq in August 2004. Lt James Crabtree,
a regular Politics1 reader, belongs to the battalion and he
submits regular dispatches to us. Anything you can do to show
support for these brave yound men and women is greatly appreciated
(regardless of whether or not you support the war). If you'd
like to send them any care packages -- and they'd certainly
be appreciated -- please send them to: Lt
Crabtree, 1/23 H&S Co, Unit 41900, FPO, AP 96426-1900
-- and James will distribute whatever you send to many of the
Marines in the 1/23d.
ARCHIVED
ENTRIES ON THE 1/23 MARINES:
JULY - AUGUST 2004
SEPTEMBER 2004
OCTOBER 2004
NOVEMBER 2004
DECEMBER 2004
JANUARY 2005
JANUARY
25, 2005 - REPORT FROM IRAQ: AT LAST, A RETURN TO UPBEAT
NEWS. Our special correspondent Lt. James Crabtree of the
1/23 Marines writes home this time with some news ... about
the 1/23 being in the news.
Dear
Politics1.com Friends,
All
is well here. I've just got a quick update today with some
stuff that is happening right now that I wanted to share with
everyone. We currently have a three-person news crew here
from WABC in NYC, as well as Ed Hendee from KSEV 700 AM in
Houston. This is great for our Marines' morale (and for the
morale of our families back home).
Jim Dolan and his crew from WABC have already filed several
stories from the dam, both live and taped. They've been along
with the Marines on vehicle check points and a mission into
one town to distribute information on the upcoming Iraqi elections.
The stories are well done and give a good feel for what it
is like here. You can view these television pieces at the
main WABC
website or by going to the personal website of WABC cameraman
Joe
Tesauro. This crew will be here with us through the election
and they are thrilled at the stories they have been able to
do thus far. They are also working on sending this footage
to the local ABC affiliates in Texas.
The
other big news today is that radio talk show host Edd Hendee
just arrived here from Houston. He hosts a show on KSEV --
one of the popular stations in Houston -- and will be doing
his show live from the dam over the next two days. Mr. Hendee
intends to get as many Marines and Sailors on the air as possible.
You can listen to these programs live via the station’s
website. I had no idea he would be doing live shows from
here. This is very exciting for our troops and I'm sure their
friends and families will feel the same way. Mr. Hendee also
has quite an impressive bio. You can check it out on the station's
webpage.
I
haven’t had time to write a new profile, but I really wanted
to share this time-sensitive information with everyone as
soon as possible. It's amazing how many people read these
updates. "Marine Mom" Mary Skelton -- who was mentioned
in the last update -- wrote to tell me that she got over 500
hits on her www.thegatorproject.org
website as soon as her efforts to send neckgators over here
was posted online here on Politics1. Many people also made
generous contributions to keep her great program going.
For
those that like photos, I’ve attached a couple of pictures
-- above and below -- from a giant sandstorm at the dam today.
It made it look like we were living in a giant vacuum cleaner
bag.
Thank
you as always for all of your support!
Semper
Fi,
James
We
appreciate that James continues to share his experience in Iraq.
If you'd like to send the 1/23d any care packages, please address
the packages to Lt Crabtree, 1/23 H&S Co, Unit 41900,
FPO, AP 96426-1900 ... and James will ensure that whatever
you ship gets distributed to the Marines in the 1/23. The 1/23
Marines are scheduled to remain in Iraq until March 2005.
Posted
by Ron Gunzburger - 1.25.05 |
JANUARY
21, 2005 - REPORT FROM IRAQ: AT LAST, A RETURN TO UPBEAT NEWS. Our
special correspondent Lt. James Crabtree of the 1/23 Marines
has some good news, for a change.
Dear
Politics1.com Friends,
Hello
from the soon to be most famous "swing state" in
the world, where polling places with provisional ballots (or
hanging, pregnant, or dimpled chads), and whether or not a
candidate complied with the laws of the Federal Election Commission
would be the least of everyone's worries. As our battalion
continues to carry out its duties here in the Anbar Province
-- and the world turns its attention to the Iraqi elections
-- I thought I'd take this time to share more of the untold
stories of this war. Today I was lucky to finally be able
to spend some time with the Devil Dogs in our motor transport
section that literally keep our unit on the move. I'll get
to their profile here in just a second.
First, I want to let you know that I've had some great emails
from Capt. Jon Kuniholm and his family. He's in great spirits
and it looks like the surgeries have gone very well. He and
his family were even featured on the front page of his hometown
Durham Herald newspaper last week in NC. I’ve also received
more very nice letters and emails from everyone out there
that reads these updates. I want to especially thank everyone
who expressed how sorry they are about the loss of some of
our Marines. We will never forget your kindness and support
during these times.
In
one of the letters I received, a lady from Massachusetts thanked
me for writing about everything from the "goofy to the
gut-wrenching." I really liked that line. Speaking of
goofy (and there is more than enough silly stuff over here
to fill a comedian's monologue) we have audio speakers in
our rooms here in the dam that are connected to a dam-wide
P.A. system. In many of the rooms the speakers are broken
or the wires are cut. In the room that I share with my two
roommates, our speaker works quite well. In the afternoons
the P.A. is commonly in use by the Arabic-speaking Iraqi dam
workers. Recently, Capt Bilyeu rejoined us from America after
recovering from a badly broken thumb caused by fragmentation
when a suicide car bomb detonated. Well, the Captain did not
realize that the speaker was hooked up and thus, while sitting
in the room and working on his laptop, he was shocked to hear
a quick and sudden announcement in Arabic. I’m not sure if
he though we were being over run or not, but it made me laugh.
I know it surprised me a bit too the first time I heard one.
It’s probably something mundane like “Hassem, bring the socket
wrench to the generator room.” At least I hope it is.
Now
it’s time for the center piece of this update: the promised
profile of the Marines of Motor-T. I’ve been saying for a
while now that I’d write a story on them -- and finally I’ve
been able to do so.
The Motor-T group photo. Front row (left to right): Cpl
Torres, Sgt Battalia, SSgt Stone, Cpl Montana, Sgt Comsiford,
Sgt Gandolfi, Cpl Esparza, LCpl Landin, and GySgt Conkins.
Middle row: SSgt Gratehouse, GySgt Dennison, LCpl Wiggins,
LCpl Lehmkuhle, LCpl Bones, Cpl Mulhern, Capt Vital, LCpl
Norman, Cpl Wingard, Sgt Saucedo, and 1stLt Phillips.
Back row: LCpl Abreu, Sgt Parrish, PFC Mercedes, mystery
Marine, LCpl Peavy, LCpl Hoylfield, LCpl Reyes, LCpl Conejo,
Cpl Stefanic, and SSgt Ritchie.
These
Marines work 24/7 operations. Without them, our battalion
would be useless. One of our main tasks is to keep the roadways
safe -- and that is done in part by constant patrols. The
Marines in the motor pool are therefore constantly busy. While
walking around I was able to speak with 29-year-old Sergeant
David Saucedo of Houston. Sgt Saucedo (not the one that made
the book shelves) was working on some tires when I spoke with
him. He told me when we first got here, our battalion went
through 150 tires a month. Over time, as our mechanics were
able to fix the steering and alignments of the vehicles we
inherited from our predecessor, the number dropped to around
25 per week, just through normal wear and tear. "I'm
a mechanic and when we first got here, only a handful of the
Marines were mechanics -- and they had very little training.
Very green. Since we've been here, they’ve really learned
a lot and we've come together very well to get the job done,”
said Sgt Saucedo. He also added that his wife reads these
updates regularly, along with their five children (his wife
just had their fifth child while he has been here). Like many
of our Marines, this will make his homecoming extra sweet.
The
Motor-T section is headed by Captain Vital, also from Houston.
One aspect of his section that Capt Vital is very proud of
is how an active duty Truck Platoon from Camp Lejeune has
been able to merge in seamlessly with his reserve Marines.
"We get along great. It’s impressive to see how these
Marines come together" It doesn’t take much for one to
see how busy they can be. In the garage area is a HMMWV being
repaired after a suicide car bomb badly damaged it. None of
the Marines were seriously hurt, but the windshield and the
engine needed some work. 1stLt Clark Phillips, 25, is originally
from Cleveland, Ohio, and he jokes that he’s the “Mayor of
Whoville.”
The
Motor-T Marines live in their own area (above) of the dam
compound, away from everyone else. In a way it is like their
own little camp. Some of the Marines sleep in an underground
bomb shelter. There is a basketball hoop made out of an old
piece of metal and clothes dry on the lines. In the distance
you can see the town of Haditha and just around the corner
is a bullet-riddled display area (below) where Saddam Hussein’s
photo once greeted all those that entered the dam compound.
While
walking into another building of Whoville, there is smoke
in the air -- but the Marines say it’s no big deal. "Just
another electrical fire from Haji wiring." laughed one
Marine. The dam’s "Fix-It-Up Chappy" -- SSgt Gratehouse
-- is a resident of the Motor-T Whoville and was hard at work
fixing the problem. Any time an electrical or plumbing issue
arises, inevitably SSgt Gratehouse is the one that solves
the problem. Unfortunately for him, he stays fairly well employed
with tasks that would make an OSHA inspector cringe.
The
Marines in Motor-T are also the ones responsible for driving
the battalion’s large 7-ton trucks on all of the convoys.
They’ve become adept at dealing with traffic, looking for
mines, and turning wrenches. These Marines, like many others,
are the backbone of a battalion. You’ll never see them getting
a lot of glory, but they deserve a lot of thanks.
One
finallnote before we wrap up today's report. Mrs. Mary Skelton
-- the Mom of one of our Marines -- has taken it upon herself
to outfit every Marine in the battalion with a hand-knitted
neck-gator. These fleece gators are very warm and highly popular
with the Marines. She’s already garnered a good deal of attention
in her native Vermont and many people have been volunteering
to help out. She even has her own website at www.thegatorproject.org.
Please check it out. I know Ethan Allen and the old Green
Mountain Boys would be proud!
Thank
you, as always, for all of your prayers and support. You really
learn who your friends are at a time like this.
Semper
Fi,
James
We
appreciate that James continues to share his experience in Iraq,
even if it isn't always good news. If you'd like to send the
1/23d any care packages, please address the packages to Lt
Crabtree, 1/23 H&S Co, Unit 41900, FPO, AP 96426-1900
... and James will ensure that whatever you ship gets distributed
to the Marines in the 1/23. The 1/23 Marines are scheduled to
remain in Iraq until March 2005.
Posted
by Ron Gunzburger - 1.21.05 |
JANUARY
17, 2005 - REPORT FROM IRAQ: YET MORE SOMBER NEWS. Our
special correspondent Lt. James Crabtree of the 1/23 Marines
had the war strike painfully close this week.
Dear
Politics1.com Friends,
I've
never viewed myself as a writer and when I sit down at my
laptop to pound out a few words to the readers out there,
I try to picture my friends and family, and what they would
want to know about life here in Iraq. Well, the hardest thing
I've ever had to write is when trying to express the sorrow
and regret we feel over losing some of our fellow Marines.
LCpl Juan Rodriguez
This past Thursday Lance Corporals Matthew Holloway (age 21)
of Fulton, Texas, and Juan Rodriguez-Velasco (age 23) of El
Cenizo, Texas -- both members of Charlie Company -- were killed
near Hit when their vehicle was struck by an IED (improvised
explosive device). Both of these Marines were hard working
and heroic and I can't summon the words to convey my feelings.
I didn't know them personally, but I know what type of people
they were: they were the type who would fight for those things
that matter most and one that is unselfish in an era of increasing
instant gratification and lack of perspective.
LCpl Matthew Holloway, with some local Iraqi men.
Maybe
in some small way their names and photos mentioned here will
let folks know about their lives and their sacrifice. Just
like the other Marines we have lost, we will not forget them.
Speaking just for myself, their deaths make me want to work
harder to ensure that what we are doing here is not in vain.
I want their families and friends to always remember that
the Marine Corps and our nation are in their debt.
I've
felt a lot of anger over the Marines we've lost here and I
can't explain it. It's too complicated, I guess. As most folks
know, the elections are coming here soon, but what they may
not know is that the terrorists continue to threaten to kill
anyone that votes. I can not even comprehend what that must
be like -- and I don't think most folks back home can either.
Our
Marines over here are heroes to me. I'm being honest when
I say I'm humbled to be here with them. I wish everyone could
see them up close on these never ending patrols through a
hostile land; see them on post at night or on the radio watches;
see them making the food or fixing the trucks; see them patrolling
the river or pouring over maps and checkpoints. I think it
would inspire even the most surly and dyspeptic person and
give them a new sense of gratitude for what they have in their
lives.
On
the KRIS-TV website (the local NBC affiliate in Corpus Christi)
is a
story about LCpl Holloway. There is also a moving story
about LCpl Rodriguez in Sunday's Laredo Morning Times (first
part, second
part). Please read the articles, if you can, because they
will give you a better feel for who these two young men were.
I've also included below the addresses to the Marine Reserve
Center in Corpus Christi. If you wish to send a card or flowers
to the families, you may mail it to the Reserve center and
they will pass them along for you. I'm also enclosing the
address for the Austin Reserve center in case anyone wishes
to do the same for Cpl Fite and Cpl Kolda from Weapons Company,
or for LCpl Parrello of the Small Craft Company.
Family
of LCpl Holloway and/or LCpl Rodriguez
c/o Maj McFall
Charlie Company 1/23
1430 Dimmit Dr. Suite 134
Corpus Christi, TX 78419
Family
of Cpl Kolda and/or Cpl Fite
c/o Capt Schumacher
Weapons Company 1/23
4601 Fairview Drive
Austin, TX 78731
Family
of LCpl Parrello
c/o Inspector-Instructor, Company G
2d Battalion, 25th Marines
Picatinny Arsenal, Building 3306
Dover, NJ 07801-3306
The Marines of MAP 2
Finally,
I want to show you a photo I really like of MAP 2 (Mobile
Assault Platoon 2). These men are primarily from the Austin
area and Oklahoma and are the unit with which Cpl Kolda belonged.
The Marines recently posed for this photo on the bottom deck
of the dam, along with a couple of their vehicles. They are
some of the warriors and peace keepers that patrol the roads
here and seek to keep this area safe. It's a tough job --
and a pretty thankless one at that. They do it outstandingly
well and are proud of their service. May God bless them and
all of their families and loved ones.
Thank
you, as always, for reading this update. I think it makes
me feel better to write to y’all and I hope maybe it causes
you to feel proud of your United States Marines.
Until
next time, take care.
Semper
Fi,
James
We
appreciate that James continues to share his experience in Iraq,
even if it isn't always good news. If you'd like to send the
1/23d any care packages, please address the packages to Lt
Crabtree, 1/23 H&S Co, Unit 41900, FPO, AP 96426-1900
... and James will ensure that whatever you ship gets distributed
to the Marines in the 1/23. The 1/23 Marines are scheduled to
remain in Iraq until March 2005.
Posted
by Ron Gunzburger - 1.17.05 |
JANUARY
13, 2005 - REPORT FROM IRAQ: ANOTHER LOSS, BUT ALSO SOME
OTHER NEWS. Our special correspondent Lt. James Crabtree
of the 1/23 Marines had the war strike painfully close this
week.
Dear
Politics1.com Friends,
One
of the best quotes from the Civil War came from future Supreme
Court Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: "We have shared
the incommunicable experience of war. We have felt, we still
feel, the passion of life to its top. In our youths, our hearts
were touched by fire." This famous line was featured
prominently in Ken Burns’ Civil War TV series on PBS in 1990
and our battalion is using it on our memorial for all of our
Marines that fall here in Iraq.
Corporal Joseph Hite, in the city of Hit (pronounced Heat)
during a Civil Affairs Group visit into the town.
Sadly,
this past Sunday, we added another name to that list of fallen
brothers. Corporal Joseph Fite was a 23 year-old native of
Round Rock, Texas. By all accounts he was a great Marine and
was proud of his service here. He was a bicycling enthusiast
and a huge fan of Lance Armstrong. In fact, he often wore
the yellow "Livestrong" bracelet on his wrist. On
Tuesday, at our sunrise memorial service for Cpl Fite, one
of the Marines spoke of how that Livestrong bracelet represented
Cpl Fite because he "always lived strong."
Above
is a photo I took of all our Marines lining up to walk past
the memorial marker and salute Cpl Fite one last time. The
marker is comprised of an inverted rifle stuck in a box full
of sand with a helmet on the buttstock and dog tags with the
Marines’ name hung off the rifle. There is a pair of empty
boots placed at the base. Just out of the shot is a Marine
facing the memorial and saluting. Each Marine would march
forward. Stop and right face and execute a salute. It was
a very quiet and beautiful morning for the service.
Frankly,
it doesn’t get any easier writing updates like this and I’m
very sorry that this is now two in a row like this that I’ve
had to write. I just hope and pray that his family and loved
ones find peace and that they know that their son is a hero
to all of us in this battalion. We will carry his memory with
us forever, just like we have for our other fallen Marines,
and we will always do our utmost to honor them. There was
a story in the Tuesday, January 11th edition of the Austin
American-Statesman in which his dad -- a Vietnam Vet -- spoke
about his son. It’s pretty moving. Here is the
link. You need a password to access it, but its free.
In
other news, I apologize but I still have not had the chance
to do a story on the Marines of our Motor-T section. Be assured
that they are my next profile. Things just seem to keep getting
in the way of that for me. They are some great Marines and
I’m eager to take some photos of them and write up a story
that details the superlative job they have been doing for
our battalion.
I
do have a couple of other cool items to share in this update.
The first is that reporter Joe Giordono from Stars and Stripes
had a good stay with us last week. He wrote several stories
on our unit that can be found on their website. Here is the
link to the first one in which he writes about our dam. He
has some good photos in there, too. Click
here to read the article..
We’ve
also got a reporter named Ed Hendee of KSEV 700 AM in Houston
coming out to be embedded with us soon, as well as a reporter
and crew from WABC in New York City. This is heady stuff for
us. I’ll give you more details as I have them. WABC is the
largest ABC affiliate in the nation and many of their stories
get picked up by ABC affiliate stations across the country.
They plan to do some live reports from here, so I hope that
works out.
Another
nice thing to tell about this week is the new and improved
Andy Dufresne Library. Sgt Saucedo of the S-4 shop is a carpenter
in the civilian world (or 1st CivDiv as Marines jokingly call
it) and he used his skills to make some splendid shelves and
magazine racks, as shown above. The room now has a light in
it too and was fully mopped out. It looks great. This may
very well be the best library in all of the Anbar Province.
We’ve got plenty of room for more books and we will leave
the library for the battalion that replaces us. About 95%
of the books are fiction, so some non-fiction books that are
related to sports, history, current events, politics, cars,
hunting and fishing, and biographies would be great to have.
Thank you to everyone that has contributed to the library.
And, just like in The Shawshank Redemption, we have a ton
of Reader’s Digest abridged books, too. It’s good stuff.
Finally,
I want to add a personal note of thanks to Ron for adopting
this battalion. I know he’s just announced his retirement
from the website for awhile and I’m very grateful that he
has allowed me to keep sending in updates on our Marines and
sailors. It means the world to us and our families and friends.
I first found Politics1.com back in 1998 and have read it
regularly since. I’m a huge politico and the updates and links
his site has are invaluable. They truly allowed me to stay
connected to Texas and national politics for the four years
I was on active duty and could only make it home to Texas
once. I’m not kidding when I say I think his site is the best
political news and reference site out there. I don’t know
how he did it. Ron, thanks for all of your support!
Until
next time, take care. We continue to get a good deal of letters
and care packages here and we are very grateful for that.
Thank you to everyone out there! Our thoughts and prayers
are with Cpl Fite’s family and friends.
Semper
Fi,
James
We
appreciate James sharing what was clearly a very personal topic
for him. If you'd like to send the 1/23d any care packages,
please address the packages to Lt Crabtree, 1/23 H&S
Co, Unit 41900, FPO, AP 96426-1900 ... and James will
ensure that whatever you ship gets distributed to the Marines
in the 1/23. The 1/23 Marines are scheduled to remain in Iraq
until March 2005.
Posted
by Ron Gunzburger - 1.12.05 |
JANUARY
5, 2005 - REPORT FROM IRAQ: SOME SOMBER NEWS FROM HADITHA
DAM. Our special correspondent Lt. James Crabtree of the
1/23 Marines had the war strike painfully close this week.
Dear
Politics1.com Friends,
Hello
again from the Haditha Dam. 
I
hope you had a good New Year.
Our
battalion has suffered a tragedy since I was last able to
write you. On New Year’s Day some of our Marines from the
Small Craft Platoon were on a regular river patrol when one
of their Marines was shot in the leg. LCpl Fallon’s wound
was minor and after he was evacuated the platoon continued
on with their patrol. Later on, while on the shore, there
was an explosion. LCpl Brian Parrello (right), a native of
New Jersey, was killed and three others were wounded. Two
of the wounded will make full recoveries, but the third, Captain
Jon Kuniholm from Durham, NC, was badly hurt. He later lost
his right arm from the elbow down.
This
is not easy to write about. LCpl Parrello is only the second
Marine we have lost here. He was an active duty Marine from
the Small Craft Company in Camp Lejeune and his death will
not be forgotten by us. We had a memorial service at sunrise
yesterday and it looked and felt just like the one we did
for Cpl Kolda. Every member of the battalion was present unless
they were on duty or on patrol. It was a very nicely done
and heartfelt memorial. I just hope that none of us has to
see another ceremony like that.
Let
me write a little more about Capt Kuniholm. Jon is my best
friend in the battalion. There’s no other way to put it. His
being wounded hit me pretty hard and it wasn’t until hours
later that we knew Jon would live. As the battalion adjutant
I did the casualty reports on the Marines, and it was difficult
to see his name on them. As Jon's two roommates, Capt Lennon
and I had to pack up all of his personal items to mail them
home. I know I’ve never experienced something like this before.
It was particularly emotional to take down the photos of him
with his wife and their 4-year-old son -- and his son’s drawings
-- while we still didn’t know what the outcome would be. Neither
of us knew that the Captain had gone out with the Small Craft
Marines and we didn’t know he’d been hurt until they had already
been medically evacuated. We saw the helicopter with the red
cross on it fly off, but only found out minutes later that
Jon was on it.
Captain Kuniholm performed for us on New Year's Eve.
Everyone
here in the battalion wishes to reach out to LCpl Parrello’s
and Capt Kuniholm’s friends and families and let them know
how honored we are to have served with men like them. This
picture of Capt Kuniholm is the only one I’d ever taken of
him. The picture was from the night before the incident when
Jon played some songs for us at the New Year’s Eve talent
show.
Major
Whitnam -- the company commander for the Small Craft Marines
-- posts a website with a better account of what happened
and who was injured. I don’t have the heart to share any more
about it on here. The address is http://smallcraft.tripod.com.
In
other news, one of our snipers -- Sgt Herbert Hancock (right)
-- was recently recognized on the official Marine Corps website
for his amazing skills in combat. The story can be found here.
Also, Mr Sacco left us today to head home and finish his story
for The Guardian newspaper. He enjoyed his stay with us --
and the feeling was mutual. We also picked up a new reporter
today -- Mr Joe Giordono -- is a civilian reporter with The
Stars and Stripes newspaper and he will be living with us
for about five days. We look forward to being able to show
him around the dam and our area of operations.
Thank
you once more for your thoughts and prayers. They mean a great
deal to all of us over here and to all of the families and
loved ones back home.
Semper
Fi,
James
We
appreciate James sharing what was clearly a very personal topic
for him. If you'd like to send the 1/23d any care packages,
please address the packages to Lt Crabtree, 1/23 H&S
Co, Unit 41900, FPO, AP 96426-1900 ... and James will
ensure that whatever you ship gets distributed to the Marines
in the 1/23. The 1/23 Marines are scheduled to remain in Iraq
until March 2005.
READ
OLDER ARTICLES ON THE 1/23 MARINES IN OUR ARCHIVES:
JULY - AUGUST 2004 ARTICLES
SEPTEMBER 2004 ARTICLES
OCTOBER 2004 ARTICLES
NOVEMBER 2004 ARTICLES
DECEMBER 2004 ARTICLES
JANUARY 2005 ARTICLES
