Photo By Sgt. Timothy Lenzo | Family and friends of Marines with 1st Marine Regiment wave goodbye to their Marines...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDELTON, Calif. – The beginning of the end of Operation Enduring Freedom officially departed to Afghanistan in the form of Marines with 1st Marine Regiment Feb. 10, 2014. Once their boots are on the ground it will signal the start of the last deployment for a regiment in Helmand province, Afghanistan, capping off 13 years of war.
They will take over as Task Force Belleau Wood and during the following months will be integral in the drawdown.
“Our mission is the defense of Bastion and Leatherneck while in support of continued operations in Helmand province leading to the retrograde,” said Col. Peter Baumgarten, the commanding officer of 1st Marines. “We will get our forces out of Afghanistan and at the same time provide security and protect the various servicemembers.”
To ensure the safety of the troops, 1st Marine Regiment comprised a unit with both knowledge and experience to successfully complete the mission.
“We are a senior staff,” said Gunnery Sgt. Timothy Dennison, the adjutant for the regiment while deployed. “We have a lot of experienced individuals to manage all of the different responsibilities.”
While focused on the mission, the historical significance was not lost with the Marines.
“It is huge honor to be the last (regimental combat team) to deploy to Afghanistan,” said Dennison, a native of Kewanee, Ill. “It really is a shining point in the history of 1st Marines.”
This isn’t the first time the regiment, which just celebrated their 100th anniversary, has been a major part of history. Their lineage spans such famous battles as Guadalcanal during World War II, Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War and more recently Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield.
With all the history to pull from, it is Vietnam that parallels closest to the situation the Marines find themselves in now. 1st Marines was the last regiment to leave that war, and they’ll continue that tradition with Operation Enduring Freedom.
Baumgarten recently had a conversation with former commandant of the Marine Corps retired Gen. Paul Kelley, who was the commanding officer of 1st Marines when they returned from Vietnam.
“We had a great discussion of the parallels of him taking the colors out of the Vietnam War and us bringing the colors back out of Helmand province later on this year,” said Baumgarten, a native of El Paso, Texas. “He had a lot of pride in his eyes now that the regiment was going back (to Afghanistan) one last time.”
The Marines will carry the same pride in their eyes during the coming months. They’ve worked hard during the work up and are prepared for their mission.
“I’m very proud of everything the Marines have done,” Baumgarten said. “There are challenging times ahead but ultimately we get the opportunity to finish strongly after 13 years a war.”
With that, the Marines said their farewells to their loved ones and boarded the bus that would take them thousands of miles away. Months from now, similar to Vietnam, they will carry the regimental colors back to Camp Horno, capping off one of the last campaigns of Operation Enduring Freedom.
| Date Taken: | 02.10.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 02.10.2014 20:26 |
| Story ID: | 120422 |
| Location: | CAMP PENDLETON, CA, US |
| Hometown: | EL PASO, TX, US |
| Hometown: | KEWANEE, IL, US |
| Web Views: | 487 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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