Local Marines called to duty
New England’s only Marine Reserve combat force — a storied grunt battalion manned by local cops, jakes, tradesmen and professionals — has been called to the fight in Iraq.
1/25 A Co
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=118679
By Thomas Caywood
Monday, December 26, 2005 - Updated: 10:27 AM EST
“I’m looking forward to it. It’s what I’ve trained for. I’m a Marine,” said Cpl. Danny Foley, 24, of West Roxbury.
The young infantryman is one of more than 1,000 Marine reservists assigned to units in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut who gathered last week at the Devens Reserve Forces Training Area in Ayer to load their weapons and gear. Together, they make up the 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment.
After a few days’ leave over the holidays, the battalion ships out to a desert training base in California for three months before heading to Iraq. The local Marines have orders to team up with Iraqi security forces in Al Anbar Province, a notorious hot spot where hundreds of Marines and soldiers have been killed.
But these proud leathernecks say they’re eager to do their duty.
“If you make an oath, you have to honor it,” said Staff Sgt. Kenneth Seney, 31, of New Bedford.
One evening after the deployment orders came down, with their two kids tucked in bed, Seney and his wife talked about what would happen to the family if he were killed. The veteran Marine fired off a few jokes to lighten the conversation.
“I told her with two life insurance policies, she could buy a new daddy for the kids,” quipped Seney, a supervisor with Belmont Springs in civilian life.
Sgt. Jason Fragoso, 24, of Roxbury will have to put off law school for a year to answer Uncle Sam’s call.
“I’m just going with a positive attitude, hoping to do the best I can for those people and for this country,” Fragoso said.
Sgt. Jamil Brown, 32, of Dorchester had finished his hitch in the Marines and was getting on with his civilian career at U.S. Airways. The Corps asked him to re-up for the Iraq deployment.
“I feel I’m needed, so I’ll go,” the soft-spoken warrior explained.
Brown, who has nine brothers and a sister, will lead a squad of Marines specializing in electronic communications. Their safety falls on his broad shoulders.