Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Los Angeles Times
February 26, 2007
Against a backdrop of heated political debate, military families gather to say farewell again to Marines returning to the war in Iraq.
By Tony Perry, Times Staff Writer
SAN DIEGO — In Washington and in much of the media, the dominant discussion is whether the U.S. should send more troops to Iraq or bring home the troops already there and end U.S. involvement.
Seven-year-old Darius Badua knows none of this. But he does know that his father, Marine Staff Sgt. Roderick "Ben" Badua, left Sunday for his second deployment to Iraq.
"He's a nice man," Darius said quietly as his father and 125-plus other Marines left from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar here. "I just wish he would come back alive."
Even as the political debate — and the nascent presidential campaign — centers on the issue of troop levels in Iraq, military families here and elsewhere are in a continuous cycle of deployments, homecomings and departures.
For most of the Marines, it's called the seven-and-seven plan: seven months in Iraq, seven at home and seven more in Iraq. As members of a helicopter squadron, many of the Marines who left Sunday will be gone for 12 months.
Many of the families saying goodbye to members of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 161 deploying to Al Anbar province say they try to tune out the increasingly strident debate.
"I try to stay out of it. I don't want to waver in my support of my son and the other Marines," said Debbie Badal, whose son, Sgt. Daniel Burmann, 21, is making his second deployment. "I can't change things."
Badal is the president of a Northern California chapter of Blue Star Mothers of America, which supports the Marines in Iraq by sending them boxes of cookies and other things. Listening to the political discussion does not help the effort, she said.
But shutting out the debate is not always easy.
"Some days it bothers me," said Nina Hannemann, mother of Roderick Badua, 25. Soon another son, Marine Cpl. Ryan Badua, 23, will also deploy to Iraq, also for a second time.
"Some days I just turn off the TV, I don't want to know anything about Iraq," she said. "Other days, I want to know everything. It changes."
Even on the days when she's consumed by news from Iraq, nothing will change her mind about the mission, she said. "We're adamant, regardless of what other people say," Hannemann said. "My sons are fighting for us there."
Lt. Col. Kevin Lee, the squadron commander, said he tells his Marines to ignore politics and remember that "they're there to support their fellow Marines."
Many military family members believe that it doesn't help the troops in Iraq when politicians talk about cutting off funding or blocking President Bush's request for a "surge" in the troop level.
But that view is not unanimous.
Maria Guzman of San Diego was at Miramar to wave goodbye to her son, 1st Lt. Arturo Guzman, a helicopter pilot. She hopes Congress blocks the president's bid to send more troops.
"I just don't see any good result coming from this, but yet we keep sending more troops," she said. "I wish they could all come back safe."
A few minutes later, the chartered 747 lumbered down the runway and lifted slowly into the early night air. By early Tuesday, the Marines of HMM161 will be in Iraq.
"It's very sad, it's just sad," Guzman said.
Most of the families left before the Marines loaded onto the plane, but Roderick Badua's family stayed until the last moment, waving and fighting back tears.
For the late-afternoon departure of her husband, Alicia Badua was accompanied by their children, Darius; Trinity, 5; and Genesis, 3; and her in-laws Nina and Bob Hannemann, all from Ventura.
"My husband is just doing his job, that's all I know," she said. "The kids just know they want Daddy home."
February 26, 2007
Against a backdrop of heated political debate, military families gather to say farewell again to Marines returning to the war in Iraq.
By Tony Perry, Times Staff Writer
SAN DIEGO — In Washington and in much of the media, the dominant discussion is whether the U.S. should send more troops to Iraq or bring home the troops already there and end U.S. involvement.
Seven-year-old Darius Badua knows none of this. But he does know that his father, Marine Staff Sgt. Roderick "Ben" Badua, left Sunday for his second deployment to Iraq.
"He's a nice man," Darius said quietly as his father and 125-plus other Marines left from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar here. "I just wish he would come back alive."
Even as the political debate — and the nascent presidential campaign — centers on the issue of troop levels in Iraq, military families here and elsewhere are in a continuous cycle of deployments, homecomings and departures.
For most of the Marines, it's called the seven-and-seven plan: seven months in Iraq, seven at home and seven more in Iraq. As members of a helicopter squadron, many of the Marines who left Sunday will be gone for 12 months.
Many of the families saying goodbye to members of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 161 deploying to Al Anbar province say they try to tune out the increasingly strident debate.
"I try to stay out of it. I don't want to waver in my support of my son and the other Marines," said Debbie Badal, whose son, Sgt. Daniel Burmann, 21, is making his second deployment. "I can't change things."
Badal is the president of a Northern California chapter of Blue Star Mothers of America, which supports the Marines in Iraq by sending them boxes of cookies and other things. Listening to the political discussion does not help the effort, she said.
But shutting out the debate is not always easy.
"Some days it bothers me," said Nina Hannemann, mother of Roderick Badua, 25. Soon another son, Marine Cpl. Ryan Badua, 23, will also deploy to Iraq, also for a second time.
"Some days I just turn off the TV, I don't want to know anything about Iraq," she said. "Other days, I want to know everything. It changes."
Even on the days when she's consumed by news from Iraq, nothing will change her mind about the mission, she said. "We're adamant, regardless of what other people say," Hannemann said. "My sons are fighting for us there."
Lt. Col. Kevin Lee, the squadron commander, said he tells his Marines to ignore politics and remember that "they're there to support their fellow Marines."
Many military family members believe that it doesn't help the troops in Iraq when politicians talk about cutting off funding or blocking President Bush's request for a "surge" in the troop level.
But that view is not unanimous.
Maria Guzman of San Diego was at Miramar to wave goodbye to her son, 1st Lt. Arturo Guzman, a helicopter pilot. She hopes Congress blocks the president's bid to send more troops.
"I just don't see any good result coming from this, but yet we keep sending more troops," she said. "I wish they could all come back safe."
A few minutes later, the chartered 747 lumbered down the runway and lifted slowly into the early night air. By early Tuesday, the Marines of HMM161 will be in Iraq.
"It's very sad, it's just sad," Guzman said.
Most of the families left before the Marines loaded onto the plane, but Roderick Badua's family stayed until the last moment, waving and fighting back tears.
For the late-afternoon departure of her husband, Alicia Badua was accompanied by their children, Darius; Trinity, 5; and Genesis, 3; and her in-laws Nina and Bob Hannemann, all from Ventura.
"My husband is just doing his job, that's all I know," she said. "The kids just know they want Daddy home."