Base Rallies to Marines’ Families in a Bad Week

The day after Camp Pendleton learned that 12 of its Marines had died in an Iraqi bloodbath, a truck pulled up to an elementary school on the base, hauling 750 brightly colored, toy-stuffed, candy-crammed Easter baskets.

The baskets delivered Thursday were gifts from local volunteers to the 750 students at San Onofre School, hundreds of whom have parents fighting in Iraq.

“It was a tough day, and you hear things on the news, and you don’t know,” said Principal Barbara Barnes, who reported that children and parents alike were delighted with the baskets. “There is stress -- no doubt about it.”

On and around Camp Pendleton this week, Marines, families and neighbors struggled to maintain routines as they grieved over news that 18 Marines from the base had died since Sunday.

On Friday, Camp Pendleton released the name of an 18th Marine from the facility killed this week in Iraq. Capt. Brent L. Morel, 27, of Shelby, Tenn., died Wednesday from hostile fire in Al Anbar province, the Marine Corps said. He was a ground intelligence officer assigned to 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton.

Base chaplains and counselors attempted to console relatives and friends of the dead this week. Well-wishers off the base called with offers of aid.

One base school held a “Kite Day” on Friday, with hundreds of children and parents flying kites on a grassy hill -- just before news broke that four more Marines had died in the last two days in Iraq’s An Anbar province, where many Camp Pendleton units are operating.

On much of this sprawling, 200-square-mile base, life seemed normal despite the television news trucks at the gate. But some tough-as-nails Marines occasionally showed their emotions. When an Arizona woman arrived at the main gate after seeing the Thursday morning news, a small yellow-and-white bouquet of silk flowers in her hand, Marines allowed her onto the base, and one even helped her plant them under the big red “Camp Pendleton” sign.

One young Marine, his eyes damp after seeing the bouquet arrive, said he wouldn’t mind seeing the whole gate area filled with flowers. But a Marine spokesman said later that because of security and traffic concerns, the base could not allow any more flowers at that site, although the yellow-and-white bouquet would remain.

Personnel from Camp Pendleton account for about 14,000 of the 25,000 Marines in Iraq, many in units stationed near Fallouja and other cities where fierce fighting occurred this week.

Marines and their families have been preparing for tough weeks since long before the troops left for Iraq in February, base spokesmen said.

“We are returning to Iraq. None of us are under any illusions about the challenges that await our troops there,” wrote 1st Marine Division Commanding Gen. J.N. Mattis in a February letter to the families remaining behind. “As the Division goes back to this combat zone, your loved ones will need your spiritual support so they can focus on their duty.”

But as the bad news poured in this week, families grew fearful. Base phones rang incessantly, many with inquiries from worried relatives around the country who are not directly connected to the Marines’ family support system.

The tempo seems to quicken when television news is on, said Maj. Mary Bradford, the family readiness officer for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

“Around 5 p.m., there are going to be a lot of calls,” predicted Bradford, who is answering her own phone and estimates that she and her assistant are receiving 15 calls an hour as reports of more Marine casualties spread.

She will get six more phone lines -- and six more staff members -- Monday to handle calls from families and would-be volunteers, she said.

Bradford has spent the last six years as a family readiness officer, working at such major bases as Pendleton and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, but she has never experienced so many fatalities and injuries happening so fast.

“I’ve never had a week like this -- not in my whole six years,” she said.

Relatives of Marines posted with units around the country call to ask, is my Marine or sailor OK? With 25,000 Marines posted in Iraq, Bradford cannot provide an easy answer.

“We can only say, ‘No news is good news at this point.... If you haven’t gotten a call, you’ve just got to believe it’s all right.’ ”

The camp has mobilized its crisis response team to work with the families of units suffering the most casualties. This week, chaplains and counselors have been assisting families, some of whom meet in support groups.

Although many unit chaplains are in Iraq with the troops, about 20 base chaplains remain here to help families, Bradford said.

Good Friday services were held on the base, and a large Easter service was scheduled for the base chapel.

The base and local schools reported a surge in calls from nearby residents wanting to help or send flowers. Bradford suggested that they instead help a charity that assists Marines. Or, she suggested, they might hold off for a while -- perhaps so they can help Marines with life-altering injuries when they return.

Her staff was gearing up to try to link volunteers with nonprofit groups that could help injured Marines -- by altering the sinks of a person confined to a wheelchair, for example, or by purchasing shower seats if they can’t stand anymore.

Some base residents this week are aiding families of dead or wounded Marines by watching their children, cleaning house or picking up relatives at the airport.

At Mary Fay Pendleton School, a base school with 750 students in kindergarten to sixth grade, children and parents flew kites during Kite Day, held every Good Friday. This year, the timing was opportune.

“There’s a lot of extra stress -- not knowing what happened with our families,” said Principal Lynne Gilstrap, who estimated that one or both parents of about 300 of her students were deployed, mostly in Iraq. For many children, “the only stability they have in their life is this school.... We’ve got some wondering if Mom or Dad is even going to come home.”

Tensions were palpable at the school this week, continuing into the weekend amid reports of more violence and death.

“Some of the moms come in, and they look so tired,” Gilstrap said. The inevitable greeting as they await more news of the dead Marines: “I haven’t heard any names yet ... have you heard any names?”