Local News - September 2003

West grad recalls war perils

Sailor served as chaplain’s bodyguard in Iraq

By ALICE SMITH, Staff Writer

————————————

Many Americans huddled around televisions in homes, restaurants and offices as the deadline to war ticked closer and closer.

Frank Cecil, a religious program basic Marine combat specialist with the 2nd amphibious assault battalion, 2nd Marine division, waited outside the Iraqi border waiting for the same news.

Cecil, 21, and the rest of his battalion had been in Kuwait for about a month when a midnight call told them they’d be moving.

“We picked up as fast as we could,” Cecil said.

President George W. Bush had given Saddam Hussein two hours to surrender.

“We went to the border (of Iraq) and we sat outside till we were told to breach,” he said.

The Iraqi border was treacherous -- protected by high razor wire and 20- to 30-foot deep tank trenches.

Marine engineers built bridges over the trenches so the troops could get
across.

“During the war, it was fast-paced,” Cecil said. “We were pretty much moving all day. It was stop, go, stop, go.”

They pushed off through the desert and cleared major cities with little resistance.

“It was pretty much a race to get to Baghdad,” he said.

Cecil is a West Lincoln High School graduate currently stationed at Camp Lejuene. He recently returned to the U.S. after spending five months in Iraq.

Cecil joined the U.S. Navy in 2001 but after basic training was chosen by the Marine Corp. to be a bodyguard, specializing in security and urban combat.

“When I first joined, I expected to be on a ship somewhere,” Cecil said about his move to the Marines. “It was kind of a shock.”

As a bodyguard, he was charged with running personal security for the unit’s
chaplain.

The chaplain — who’s not allowed to carry a gun — had to go to the front lines
during battle to check on the welfare of the fighting Marines. If he felt they weren’t alert or weren’t able to continue, he had the authority to pull them.

Amidst nonstop gunfire and ongoing investigations, Cecil’s job was to make sure the chaplain stayed safe.

“It’s my job to get him from hole to hole to hole,” Cecil said. “Sometimes it’s harder to move someone through a battle than to fight.”

Cecil, who developed problems with his knees before he left for the Middle East, was written up for a Navy Achievement Medal for his actions during the war.

Despite being “in extreme pain while I was over there,” he sprinted down a road to cover his chaplain during
an attack..

Cecil’s first scare came almost immediately after crossing into Iraq.

The battalion split into three serials, or lines, and went over the border. Each serial is sent in at a different place.

A grenade from one of the amtracks — an amphibious vehicle used to hold as many Marines as possible — was accidentally discharged and landed dangerously close to his vehicle.

“All we saw was smoke,” Cecil said. “I think that was the first real scare we had.”

But it wasn’t the last.

One of the hardest parts about being in Iraq, he said, was knowing who to trust.

Farmers would lie in the tall grass and fire at troops, he said.

But Iraqis who realized troops were there to help would show support.

Cecil also saw how inexperienced the Iraqi armies were.

One night while sleeping on the roof of his truck, he saw his first missile strike.

His unit was shot at for at least 30 minutes, but never hit.

“It was like a little fireworks show,” Cecil said. “Their military was so unorganized and untrained. A lot of them were walking up to us and laying their guns down. I don’t think they were realizing what they were doing.”

During the war, troop morale was low, Cecil said.

Soldiers lacked things they might have taken for granted in the U.S., like hot showers. Cecil went 90 days without a bath.

They weren’t getting letters or packages from home.

Cecil received two letters in three months; his family was sending them every other day. Phone calls were short and came even less often than the mail.

And they had to face the harsh reality of war by seeing friends and fellow soldiers get hurt or die.

“I saw a lot,” Cecil said. “I saw more than I wanted to see.”

Things turned around when American forces toppled the large statue of Hussein in Baghdad.

“To hear that statue fell, that was pretty much a morale booster,” he said.

After the war ended and troops finished up their humanitarian efforts, time was spent sitting around, counting down the days till their homecoming.

On the way back to the U.S., Cecil’s plane flew over New York City. The pilot got special clearance to fly near the Statue of Liberty.

The troops received a warm welcome when they landed, he said. A barrage of New York police officers were standing near the runway, clapping.

“Just to smell the fresh air over here was such a relief,” Cecil said.

Despite hardships the and inconceivable loss of fellow soldiers, Cecil was glad to be a part of the war.

“Going over there, I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything,” he said. “You realize how important people are to you.”

——–———————

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

Terms and Conditions