Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN) June 09, 2003
Marine proud of his small part in toppling Saddam
Lafayette resident reflects on wartime experience in Iraq
By Joe Thomas
Myles Wilmington spent this spring chipping away at the foundation supporting former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's power base.
Currently at home on leave from the Marine Corps, Wilmington savors the victory he helped win and contemplates how it changed him. But don't ask him about Saddam's fate.
"Don't know, don't care," he said flatly. "Hopefully, he's dead."
Wilmington, a lance corporal in the Marines' intelligence community, arrived in Iraq in April and returned to the United States on Memorial Day. His brother, Macen, serves in the Third Battalion, 24th Marines Reserve Unit in Terre Haute.
Macen came within $15 billion of going to Iraq, too. His company had orders to deploy to Turkey and form a northern front by invading Iraq through its Kurdish-controlled region.
The Bush administration offered Turkey $15 billion in economic aid for permission to stage Macen and his cohorts along that border. Turkey ultimately refused the offer, canceling the attack from the north.
Macen describes his and Myles' Marine Corps jobs in a way that makes it sound like they could have shortened the war, had he gone, too. Macen serves as an infantryman while Myles serves in intelligence.
"He finds out where the bad guy is and tells me where to go to kill him," Macen said.
Without his brother, Myles saw the short war's most intense fighting at al-Nasariya and then helped destroy Saddam murals, pictures and statues before American fighters arrived in the small fertile crescent towns in central Iraq.
According to the Web site Global Security.org, Wilmington's unit helped secure a major supply road running from southern Iraq to Baghdad.
They also conducted vehicle checkpoints and successfully completed several raids in which they captured weapons and ammunition, according to the Web site. They also recovered a fallen Marine and destroyed Ba'ath Party regime symbols in Qalat Sukar.
Wilmington recalls the part of his mission, which taught him about Iraq and its deposed dictator's effects.
"It's a really, really rich country and all these people are living in mud huts while Ba'ath Party members live in palaces. The people herd sheep and goats, and that's about it," Myles said.
The Iraqi citizens he met lead Wilmington to call the campaign necessary and successful.
"You could see it in their faces how thankful they were that we were there," he said. "That, alone, justifies what we did."
But his arrival brightened their lives, he said.
"People were so thrilled we were doing this - liberating them. They came out crying and hugging us. It was good stuff."
Wilmington and company used explosives to remove Saddam murals from walls. They piled up Saddam photos in town centers, using them as fuel for bonfires. Iraqis usually helped.
"They would go in their equivalent of city hall and round up the pictures and take down the statues and throw them in the street and set the fire," he said.
He quickly learned to like the Iraqi people, he said.
"They are generally a very hospitable people. They'd invite you in for tea and you had to accept because it was an insult if you didn't and they wouldn't cooperate with you," Myles said
He also has less pleasant memories as his company hit the road every other day, living in two-man tents, eating MREs and encountering forces loyal to Saddam.
"People would walk along the road and pull an AK and fire on you and you didn't know where it came from," he said.
Combat rules allowed him to return fire only if he could find the shooter. They took prisoners whenever they could, he said.
And they contended with the Iraqi desert and its ubiquitous sand.
"The sand turns the sky orange," he said. "It's not like the sand you find around here, or on beaches. It's like brown baby powder and it sticks to you."
Myles said his daily routine included cleaning his rifle and handgun four times a day, including after every meal, because the sand permeated everything.
But back at home in McCutcheon Heights, Myles enjoys things his neighbors never think about.
"A trip to a fast-food restaurant, or walking down the street and not seeing violence. There aren't any bombs going off and there aren't any women coming down the street bleeding," he said.
Helping troops at home, abroad
* The Lafayette Family YMCA is implementing a new membership policy for military families. All full-time, active duty military personnel can receive a free membership to the YMCA, and the spouses and/or dependents of active duty military are encouraged to become YMCA members.
"The recent conflicts abroad, coupled with difficult economic times, have challenged the Y once again to reach out and help families during their times of need." YMCA executive director Chris Bergin said.
Active duty military can stop by the Y, 1950 S. 18th St., during business hours to provide proof of their status and fill out a membership application. For more information, call (765) 474-3448.
Copyright © 2003, Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)
