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Marines, families break bread before war

By: Darrin Mortenson - Staff Writer

CAMP PENDLETON ---- It's no picnic where they're heading. So before they leave, the 1,000-some Marines and sailors of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment enjoyed a fun-filled family picnic at Camp Pendleton Friday before they deploy for seven months of dangerous duty in Iraq later this month.

The battalion is slated to replace a sister Marine infantry battalion west of Baghdad, where at least 30 Marines have been killed in fighting against Iraqi insurgents since March.

Event planner Jackie Fergusen, whose son went to Iraq with the battalion last year, said the event was all about letting the troops and their families know they are part of a community that cares.

"It just makes you want to cry to see all these Marines leaving without some kind of recognition," she said. "They need a chance to relax and have fun ---- the single Marines and the families, all together ---- because they are going to be gone. It's just a good time before they go."

The troops agreed.

"It's a morale thing," said Lance Cpl. Sam Lebowitz, 25, of New Jersey.

Lebowitz is among the approximately one-half of the battalion's troops who participated in the invasion of Iraq with the unit in 2003 and will be returning for a second tour.

By noon, some 500 troops and their families blanketed a dusty parade field in the San Mateo section of the base, adjacent to San Clemente, to partake in games and demonstrations and to chow down on the BBQ lunch donated and prepared by volunteers from a local supermarket.

Volunteers from local chapters of veterans' organizations ---- including Veterans of Foreign Wars, Retired Officers Association, Military Order of the Purple Heart ---- helped with the event and helped serve the departing Marines and their families lunch.

"It's just out way of helping out," said Vietnam Veteran Skip Cline, who said he was wounded while on a mission with the same battalion in Vietnam and still had a "special place for anyone who serves in "2/5," as the unit is known.

"They didn't do this kind of stuff for us when we left," Cline said.

Some of the Marines said they could already see the "other side" of the seven month deployment.

Other troops said that they realized that, for some, this deployment could last forever.

Sgt. Jerry Uribe said the men of 2/5 have been watching the news carefully and communicate weekly with Marines from the battalion they will replace. They are well aware of the dangers and conscious of the heavy toll their predecessors have suffered there.

"It actually helps us stay more focused," said Sgt. Jerry Uribe of the grim news that often flows from the volatile region west of Baghdad. "No one thinks they can mess around. They all know this is a different kind of warfare where you never knows who's a good guy or a bad guy."

The battalion commander, Lt. Col. R.P. Newman, urged the Marines to take advantage of the chance to relax Friday.

He thanked the community for supporting the troops, singling out the San Clemente Albertson's store that donated 3,600 steaks and chicken quarters, 12,000 soft drinks and bottles of water, and 1,500 pounds of coleslaw and potato salad for the hungry Marine "grunts" and their guests.

"If you look around, you'll find out," Newman told his men Friday. "Every time you think you are alone, you're not."