Military Reinforcements

It was a scene right out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

With American flags fluttering, baby-faced Boy Scouts saluting and scores of residents cheering, the city of San Clemente bid farewell Saturday to the community’s newly adopted sons and daughters in camouflage fatigues.

In July, the city officially adopted the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment--an infantry unit 1,000 strong from Camp Pendleton--as part of the national “Americans Supporting Americans” program. In doing so, the city became the first in Orange County to adopt a military unit, said Linda Patterson, executive director of the program.

Next month, the battalion is headed for a six-month patrol mission in the Western Pacific. An advance party of about 30 Marines leaves today.

“We wanted to recognize that these guys are an integral and important part of our community,” said Mayor Steve Apodaca, who rode atop a Humvee in the short but patriotic farewell parade honoring the battalion. “It’s a small reward for what they do for our country. Now they’re ours forever.”

It’s a fact that was brought home to many residents as they cheered on 180 Marines from the unit who marched in step under cloudy skies down Avenida del Mar. The Marines were joined by local Boy and Girl Scout troops, dozens of kids from the Young Marines program, veterans, Scottish bagpipers, civic organizations and students from local schools.

“Without these boys, we wouldn’t be here,” said San Juan Capistrano resident Beth Carney, who momentarily stepped outside of Stanton Court where she works as an antique dealer to clap and holler for the Marines as they marched by in camouflage utility uniforms. “They put their minds, their bodies, their lives on the line for us.”

The Marines are leaving in November on a routine, six-month deployment to Okinawa, Japan, during which they will board ships to patrol the Western Pacific.

“If something happens out there, we’ll be the first on the scene,” said Lt. Col. Jerry Durrant, commanding officer of the battalion.

During the deployment, local schoolchildren will help ease the loneliness of ship life by writing to the Marines as pen pals.

“There’s nothing like getting mail out in the mid-Pacific,” said Capt. Demetrius Maxey, an intelligence officer from the battalion who helped set up the program.

Since the battalion was adopted in July, the Marines have been volunteering at city functions and even going into local schools to teach children the Pledge of Allegiance. Later, when they return from deployment, some of them will become mentors for students at Shorecliffs Middle School.

This isn’t the first time the city has thrown its support toward its military neighbors. In 1991, the city threw a ticker-tape parade for Marines returning home from the Persian Gulf War.

But after decades of living side by side, the official act of adoption was seen by many residents and Marines as a way to strengthen ties.

“It’s a way to let our Marines know that here’s a town that really appreciates them,” said resident George Key, a veteran of World War II and the Korean War and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which organized the parade along with the Chamber of Commerce.

Added Janine Power, a mother of three whose husband is a Marine with the battalion. “It’s special to feel that support from the community. You feel they have a little better understanding of what families go through.”

After the parade, the Marines and their families were treated to a barbecue hosted by local civic organizations, which raised $1,000 for the event.