Posted on 08/10/2005 6:43:32 PM PDT by SandRat
JALALABAD, Afghanistan (July 31, 2005) -- As Cpl. Matthieu T. Brule sits on his bed he understands that his experiences in Afghanistan will live with him forever. He doesnt complain or try to make himself into a hero. He is here to do a job and accepts it.
I wanted to join the Marine Corps because they just sounded (tough). I love the Marine Corps because when I wake up in the morning I have a sense of purpose. Other jobs dont give you that, they are just the same boring routine everyday, said Brule. Its never boring and as Marines we simply do what needs to be done.
Brule is a machinegunner with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, currently serving in Operation Enduring Freedom.
Like many people Brule wanted to do his part in the war on terror, so after earning a degree in communications from the University at Notre Dame, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. Joining the Marines gave him a realization that he would deploy to a combat zone. That is when other priorities surfaced in his life.
I wanted to become a United States citizen before I left on deployment, said Brule. It was real important to me, I begged them to swear me in before I left.
Living his childhood in a different country, Brule believes hes more open minded of other cultures and experiences. This helps when Marines have more passive roles to take part in, such as conducting security for meetings with local officials and working with the Afghanistan National Army. Even though Brule has spent most of his life in America, friends still tease him.
I get a lot of teasing from fellow Marines, sometimes it gets old. Ive been here so long I consider myself American, but when you spend as much time together as we do, you get to be pretty close and now they dont give me as hard of a time, said Brule.
Brule parents brought him to live in the states when he was 10 and have remained for 20 years. He considers America his home and he plans to stay with his wife, Rachelle in the U.S. and become a police officer after his enlistment is over. He says that the deployment to Afghanistan is easier because of the support of his wife.
E-mail Sgt. Robert M. Storm at robert.storm@usmc.mil
Bump!
Bump!
Now there's a Frenchman who won't surrender! OO-RAH!
Well my father who was in France in WWI, God rest his soul, can feel good about one Frenchman a United States Marine who hasn't forgotten and has a sense of loyalty to America and Americans who pulled France out of the skillet on not one but two occasions.
The French as a country seem to have forgotten that if not for America and Americans they would all be speaking German today!
Point, Game, Set, Paris Match!
Semper Fi,
Kelly
He's a Marine not a Frenchman and now he's an American. I say welcome young man. Your country is proud of you!
Well said!
Cool story. I guess all the good ones didn't die in the trenches.
France gets a bad rap for WW II, but I wonder how well they would have fought if they hadn't woken up one morning to find that massed German armored formations had snuck through the Ardennes and broken through a weakly defended sector of the French lines.
At that point, the battle for France was already over before it had begun. Panic ensued because the situation was irretrievable.
Given the French performance in WW I, I tend to think they would have put on a much better show in WW II if not for the amazing strategic success the Germans had in breaking through the Ardennes undetected and with great speed.
I hope this doesn't start a trend. What will we do if we can't bash the French? LOL.
On March 8th 1965, "Frenchy", swore an oath to the United States Marine Corps next to me. We had enlisted on a sign now, go later program, and partied till the following June when we reported for active duty and boot camp. Following boot camp, his orders took him somewhere differant from where my orders led me.
In 1966, I once again caught up with "Frenchy", on the island of Okinawa at Camp Schwab. He was then serving with 1st Bn. 9th Marines (or 1/9 aka the "walking dead").
His Bn. was back on Okinawa (the "Rock") to be re-constituted due to numerous casualties (why they called them selves the "walking dead".
We both pulled some 72 hour liberties and went down to Naha, the capitol of the Ryukian islands and partied some more before he went back to the 'Nam.
A couple of months later in 1967, his unit once again was back at Camp Schwab to be re-constituted. And "Frenchy" was still amoung the living. So we partied hearty once again. He told me he hoped his service would speed the process for him to become an American citizen as opposed to being a Canadian from Quebec.
A couple of months later, just prior to my going to the 'Nam, they were back but Frenchy wasn't with them. His serial number was sequential to mine (ahead of me), and despite my french bashing, I've never forgotten my "french" brother.
Semper Fi! (holding my beer up) to you and Frenchie.
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