The Jersey Journal January 27, 2003
Getting the Call
Marine reservists set for deployment
By Jennifer Morrill
Journal staff writer
Although it's not the first time Virginia Alvarez has sent a son off to war, that doesn't make it any easier.
The 53-year-old Jersey City woman watched with "mixed emotions" yesterday afternoon as her 20-year-old son Matt packed his green canvas duffel bag with military gear.
His company, the Red Bank-based 6th Motor Transport Battalion of the U.S. Marine Reserves, was called up last week to support troops in the ongoing Operation Enduring Freedom. About 160 soldiers will take part in the mission.
"The very last thing in your head is to send your son off to battle," Virginia said while sitting with her two oldest sons in their Mercer Loop home in Jersey City. "I'm a little scared really as a mother . . . I just hope it will all be normal again soon."
Matt, a lance corporal in the reserves and a 2001 graduate of Ferris High School, said he enlisted in the Marines as soon as he was eligible, following in the footsteps of his father, Florentino.
Florentino, who is currently working in the Philippines, served for 20 years in the Philippine Marines and participated in numerous civil conflicts including the 1986 coup against former President Ferdinand Marcos, his wife said.
Matt's older brother, Mark, joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1995, just three months after his family moved from Manila to the United States. He was sent off to Bosnia only a few months after that, where his battalion served as a support company.
"I am little bit excited but in a way I am sad because I have to leave my family and friends," Matt said. "But I feel prepared and that I know what to expect."
A reservist for the past 10 months, Matt said his company, which is scheduled to leave Red Bank for Camp Pendelton, Calif. tomorrow, has not been told specifically where it is headed - only that it will be somewhere in Southwest Asia.
Earlier this month, more than 100 Army reservists and 150 Army National Guard soldiers were also called to active duty.
The Army reservists - who drill out of Jersey City's Caven Point Military base - are members of the 920th Company and are being deployed to Kuwait. They are the first such unit in New Jersey to get the order since President Bush announced plans earlier this month to send 150,000 soldiers to the Persian Gulf to prepare for a possible war with Iraq.
The National Guard reservists were told their mission is to remain stateside and guard one of New Jersey's two Air Force bases, officials said.
Military analyst Patrick Garrett of GlobalSecurity.org said the call-up of more than 4,500 Marine reservists from around the country over the last week was part of the Pentagon plan to more than double U.S. troop strength in the Persian Gulf region.
Master Sgt. Calvin Carlstrom, the senior enlisted officer in Alvarez's troop, said the soldiers spent every day last week training at Red Bank. When they are not on active duty, the soldiers go to Red Bank once a month for drills and training.
Carlstrom, 47, a veteran of the Gulf War and a gym and health teacher at Dickinson High School in Jersey City, said most of the troops are young men and women who enlisted in the reserves to take advantage of the G.I. Bill.
The battalion, which is responsible for transporting people and supplies from a receiving area to the front lines, has been taking classes on nuclear and chemical warfare as well as the proper usage of gas masks and other protective gear.
"It's things they already know but have to brush up on," he said. "The young guys here who are going are motivated and excited. . . although it's a sad time, it's an adventure for them. It's patriotic."
Newhouse News Service contributed to this report.
Jennifer Morrill can be reached at jmorrill@jjournal.com.
Copyright © 2003, The Jersey Journal
