Openbah / Journal of a Marine Officer Candidate

Month: November 2005

  • Jeffrey’s Uncle

    Tim Lickness in Vietnam

    I received a letter last week from Tim Lickness, Cpl Jeffrey Starr’s uncle, with some words of advice I think anyone hoping to lead Marines one day should hear:

    I note you want to be a Marine officer. I wish you well. I was a young airborne First Lieutenant, infantry platoon leader during the Vietnam War. Today I had lunch with an old friend of mine, Norm Mahalic. Norm was a Marine aviator (rotor) combat pilot in Vietnam. We had a wonderful time talking about our exploits of 38 years ago. While having lunch we noticed three young (very young) Marines come into the restaurant with three young civilian friends. I guessed they were right out of the Marine Corp Recruiting Depot just a few miles away. I know graduations are on Friday so I thought the chances were pretty good this was their first meal out of MCRD. I told the waitress to bring me their bill; she did. A few minutes later the three were standing at attention at our table thanking us for our consideration. I asked if they had just graduated and they had. One was from California the other two from Chicago. Nice young men. I thanked them for their service to our country and said that the meal came with a condition. Sometime around thirty years from now if they see some young soldiers or Marines they are to buy their lunch. They all agreed. They couldn’t have been more than eighteen.

    Here’s the reason I’m writing. If you do become a Marine officer these are the guys you’ll be leading. The best our country has to offer. They (and you) are our future. It’s a tremendous responsiblity to lead these guys. It’s also a tremendous honor. Take your responsibility seriously. They, and our country, deserve it. You will be honored for doing so.

    Best wishes for a successful career. Honor Jeffrey by being the best. Duty, honor, country. Be courageous. Be forever faithful. Trust in God, he will provide. Jeffrey was a mighty man of God.

    Sincerely, Tim Lickness

    The following links are to essays written by Tim about Vietnam.
    This is the essay that first appeared in the WSJ in November 1996 under the title “and the War That Brought Out the Worst in Us”
    Two other stories that first appeared in newspapers in Texas
    This is a story related to Rescue Under Fire
    Also related to Rescue Under Fire
    Story in the San Diego Union Tribune

  • Veteran’s Shelter

    I’ve always had great respect those who fought for our country. In February, this respect led me to become a volunteer teacher at the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans. Since then, I’ve gotten to know and spend a lot of time with those who gave everything up for you and I.

    A resident of the shelter once asked me why I’d want to become a Marine after seeing what happened to them? Truth is I see their sacrifices as encouraging. So many people work hard their whole lives for nothing but a paycheck. Like the men and women of the shelter, I want to work hard at something that will make a difference for our country.

    I am currently teaching my fifth and final semester at the shelter.

  • Bernard

    I’ve only had one student that never missed a class. His name is Bernard. I liked Bernard from the second I met him. He’s a quiet man that genuinely cares about the people around him.

    Bernard served in the Army. Midway through his enlistment, Bernard saved his company’s ass and was offered the opportunity to go to flight school. Bernard had always wanted to fly, but never had the chance, and would probably never get another. But Bernard’s wife had other plans. Flight school meant more years in the service, so she gave him an ultimatum: stay ground, or find a new wife. Bernard loved his wife, so he gave up the opportunity and finished his enlistment on the ground.

    To this day Bernard still regrets not following his dreams.

    I ran into Bernard outside the shelter today. He said things were going slow, but good. He asked what I was doing and I told him I was teaching at the shelter still. He said he felt bad because if he’d known he would’ve stopped in to say hi. I told him this was my last semester at the shelter and that I’d gotten a pilot slot at Officer Candidates School. Bernard almost lost it right in the middle of Court Street. He was so happy I actually got embarrassed. He had a huge smile on his face and kept yelling, “Prayer works! Prayer works!”

    Thank you Bernard.

  • Cpl Jeffrey Starr

    This has been bothering me since I first read about it on Michelle Malkin’s site over a week ago. On October 26th, the New York Times published (in the paper marking the 2000 dead landmark) a passage about a 22 year-old Corporal who was killed on April 30th. The following excerpt is from the passage:

    Another member of the 1/5, Cpl. Jeffrey B. Starr, rejected a $24,000 bonus to re-enlist. Corporal Starr believed strongly in the war, his father said, but was tired of the harsh life and nearness of death in Iraq. So he enrolled at Everett Community College near his parents’ home in Snohomish, Wash., planning to study psychology after his enlistment ended in August.

    But he died in a firefight in Ramadi on April 30 during his third tour in Iraq. He was 22.

    Sifting through Corporal Starr’s laptop computer after his death, his father found a letter to be delivered to the Marine’s girlfriend. ”I kind of predicted this,” Corporal Starr wrote of his own death. ”A third time just seemed like I’m pushing my chances.”

    After the article was published, Corporal Starr’s uncle wrote a letter to Michelle and told her what the Times left out.

    Yesterday’s New York Times on-line edition carried the story of the 2000 Iraq US military death[s]. It grabbed my attention as the picture they used with the headline was that of my nephew, Cpl Jeffrey B. Starr, USMC.

    Unfortunately they did not tell Jeffrey’s story. Jeffrey believed in what he was doing. He [was] willing put his life on the line for this cause. Just before he left for his third tour of duty in Iraq I asked him what he thought about going back the third time. He said: “If we (Americans) don’t do this (free the Iraqi people from tyranny) who will? No one else can.”

    Several months after Jeffrey was killed his laptop computer was returned to his parents who found a letter in it that was addressed to his girlfriend and was intended to be found only if he did not return alive. It is a most poignant letter and filled with personal feelings he had for his girlfriend. But of importance to the rest of us was his expression of how he felt about putting his life at risk for this cause. He said it with grace and maturity.

    He wrote: “Obviously if you are reading this then I have died in Iraq. I kind of predicted this, that is why I’m writing this in November. A third time just seemed like I’m pushing my chances. I don’t regret going, everybody dies but few get to do it for something as important as freedom. It may seem confusing why we are in Iraq, it’s not to me. I’m here helping these people, so that they can live the way we live. Not have to worry about tyrants or vicious dictators. To do what they want with their lives. To me that is why I died. Others have died for my freedom, now this is my mark.”

    What Jeffrey said is important. Americans need to understand that most of those who are or have been there understand what’s going on. It would honor Jeffrey’s memory if you would publish the rest of his story.

  • New phone

    I got a new phone today, the Samsung PM-A840. I bought it from Alex at the Sprint Store. Surprisingly, Alex didn’t get angry when I took his picture. Too bad…

    Alex, from the Sprint Store & my Samsung PM-A840