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A writer by passion and profession, I've been writing since I was old enough to know how, so establishing a weblog
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Wednesday, April 09, 2003
Pvt. K. Nine The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a pair of Iraqi orphans have been picked up and are being cared for by Marines with the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Unit, which is nicknamed "The Barbarians."
According to Staff Sgt. Nelson Hidalgo, the mother was dying of hunger and was unable to nurse her babies. The unit's "tough-talking" Gunnery Sgt. Russell Strack (nicknamed "Gunny" -- ain't they all?) didn't think the pair would survive because they were in such bad shape when they were found. The marines started feeding them Similac mixed with water, but they quickly graduated to the unit's "Meals Ready to Eat" (MREs) -- "high-cal, high-protein Marine Corps food."
Sgt Strack quickly grew attached to the boy named Nas, who says close to Strack, while his sister Mary Jane rides with some of the other unit members. The new refugee is rumored to have had quite an effect on Strack.
"Gunny is hard-core, a real tough Marine," a lance corporal said. "Ever since he had the puppy, he's like a little kid. He doesn't yell as much."
"I never yell -- I just motivate," said Strack.
Indeed, he's motivating Nas as part drill instructor, part adoptive dad, taking pride as the pup parades about the 17-ton LAV as if it was a giant doghouse on eight wheels.
"I've got a big back yard near Camp Lejeune" in North Carolina, said Strack. "I've told all the guys Nas can run around there and live with me until he's ready to go home with one of my Marines."
But first the Marines have to try to figure out how to get Nas and Mary Jane home. And that could involve quarantine and fighting a war with bureaucracy that could be tougher than the one on the ground in Iraq.
"We've brought back all sorts of things before," said one Marine. "If I have to, I'll smuggle Nas and Mary Jane back. We ain't gonna leave them here to die in Iraq."
What else do these marines have to say about these war refugees? I give Caleb Green, 18, of Tupelo, Mississippi, the last word...
"You can play with a dog...It kind of makes Iraq feel a little bit like home."
"Gunny is hard-core, a real tough Marine," a lance corporal said. "Ever since he had the puppy, he's like a little kid. He doesn't yell as much."
