BLACKFIVE: In Preparation for the US Marine Corps Birthday Tomorrow

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In Preparation for the US Marine Corps Birthday Tomorrow

Posted By Blackfive

I'd ask that go to this post, read it, but more importantly, READ THE COMMENTS. Then, come back and read after the Jump.

A Sergeant's last mission for his commander:

I'm Sgt Maj Bill Skiles and I was Doug's 1st Sgt in Echo Co. in 2004 in Fallujah. I would like to tell you the Doug Zembiec that you won't read about in papers. I shared a hooch with this man for the 7 months and we would talk about everything from his marines to what it will be like to be married. Doug is known for his tremendous warrior spirit and his physical strength. He was a physical specimen but he had a heart of gold. The qualities that I still live with thanks to him are humility and sincerity, Doug would be the first to hug a PFC and tell him it's OK, not put him down for being weak. He would be the first person to stand up for you if he felt you were being treated unfairly. When he told someone he will do something, he did it and made sure you know the results and if you didn't he wouldn't sleep until you understood what was happening. Doug was so confident is his own abilities, he had every right to be the most arrogant man alive if he wanted and could back it up. But he knew who he was and would always tell me that any leader that had to be a righteous prick towards his own marines was probably thin skinned and was insecure on who they were. He would call some of these marines " Junior Varsity" and that they were full of jackassery !! His words……..Doug and I had made a deal on the day our first wounded went down in late March 04. The deal was that I take care and account for all wounded and he would keep the rest focused for the fight. This agreement was made because he could not handle seeing his marines bleeding and hurting…..He and I would weep behind closed doors during some of the trying times with mass casualties. Doug's emotions were always worn on his sleeve and I really admired that. His troops admired that…He showed us all that he was human, he cared deeply about us and felt what we felt. I cannot name another commander that ALL of his troops would give THEIR lives for if needed. He wasn't fake, he wasn't the most politically correct officer but in the troops eyes that walked the streets with him and fought and sacrificed with him understood. That bond is hard to teach any ego….I wish all commanders could learn just a little of the humility and sincerity this warrior displayed daily to every marine regardless of rank. Doug's marines loved to laugh with him, cry with him and mostly fight and kill the enemy with him…..and every marine knew that when Doug shows up to a fight, it makes them feel a little better. Doug allowed the chaplain to perform services during firefights, comforting our grieving warriors after loss and listened to our corpsman on how to take better care of the fallen…..From his firm handshake to a grieving hug together, I will miss him until I join him. I will even miss the hairiest man on earth, from the eyebrows on down..Poor guy had no hair above his eyebrows but he was a human woolly pulley every where else. He would try to shave his back before patrols and always miss various spots and yes, I would help finish the job…What are buddies for ?? Doug Zembiec would never talk about himself, talk about what's he done, talk about any of his accomplishments because he told me that no one really cares about what you have done…as you command, the marines want to know what you can do now and the future….Well said…The day Doug received his Bronze Star with "V", he wept, I wept and I hugged this warrior and no words were spoken……I know why we wept…We would talk over and over again with valor is sacrifice and he thought this valor medal will never match the sacrifice that his marines went though. Humility again shows itself…..About his new family, Doug LOVED Pam and being a dad made him even more humble…Her birth was the proudest day ever for him…...Until her birth he told me the proudest moment in his life was leading the marines of Echo Co in battle. I could talk for days about how much this man meant to me and to his marines but I know throughout my life I will know about a man that was the definition of what a marine should be, what a committed husband and father should be and what this country looks for in a true hero in every stretch of the word. I will spend a couple hours with him tomorrow night when it's my turn to watch over his body and we will finish what we've talked about for those 7 months and both find peace.

I love you Doug

Sgt Maj Bill Skiles

SERGEANT MAJOR WILLIAM SKILES, USMC
HMLA-267 STINGERS
MAG-39, CAMP PENDLETON, CA
" NO SKILL, NO KILL"

And what a witness saw at the funeral:

SgtMaj Skiles accomplished his final casualty evacuation today...
Except this time it was not under fire, or in Fallujah, or side by side with his commander Maj Doug Zembiec. Instead, today, SgtMaj Skiles ensured that the body of his commander was solemnly borne into and out of the US Naval Academy Chapel. What probably very few know, is that SgtMaj Skiles, Maj Zembiec’s 1st Sgt in Fallujah, was single-handedly responsible for moving day-after-day under intense enemy fire and mortar attacks to evacuate the wounded and dead Marines of Echo Company who pushed deep into the heart of enemy held territory - enemy held territory smack in the middle of that sorrowful, small city on the Euphrates. This time he has come to the aide his “captain” and borne him from the battle.
I was at the funeral today - as I came to know Maj Zembiec and SgtMaj Skiles in Fallujah. I was recording their operations for the Marine Corps History Division. I was not the first - LtCol P (Rule308 & Op-For) first documented their actions as he lived with the company in their further-most positions during the initial assault in Mar 04. As opposed to LtCol P’s gathered accounts of valorous Marines in action, mine were after-the-fact - they were emotional, heart-felt accounts of physical strength and determination, of pride and humility, but also of grief and sorrow for those who did not return from the battle. Chief among these were the accounts of SgtMaj Skiles, who spent hours with me in a small room, recounting the actions of his Marines, his Corpsmen, his commander. Maj Zembiec did the same, spending hours recollecting the actions of his Marines, and never quite seeming to remember any details about himself, unless, of-course, it was showing me where he still had shrapnel in legs, and his flak jacket, which still had a huge chunk embedded, you guessed it, right in front of his crotch.… He was proud of this and laughed as he recalled it.
Today, on the grounds of the Naval Academy, I entered the Chapel. Soaring ceilings, the sun beaming down through the haze of incense and coming to rest on the pink granite walls, images of valor carved into every surface, enormous stained glass windows, flags, and anchors at every turn, it all rests on the bones of John Paul Jones… It was filled to capacity by Marines and Sailors, all friends of Doug Zembiec. Quiet - very, very quiet. Black mourning bands on uniforms, ushers, and the meeting of old friends, when, if met under different circumstances, would have been full of handshakes and friendly insults. Today, stiff upper lips where the order of the day, and a profound sorrow, often masked with reserved smiles and red eyes could be felt like a pall hanging over the funeral. All felt as though they were family, all were family indeed.
I was awed - for I’ve never encountered a more august group of warriors. …This was no endless legion of retired, old soldiers of another war with faded medals and rosettes hung on suits which have seen better days, but a battalion or two of strong, proud, physical men. Warriors, as evidenced by their row-upon row of medals and aquilletes, who have faced the enemy not in the halls of the CP, but on the uneven, unyielding fields of valor which have beckoned us forward. They’ve stepped into that dangerous clearing in the woods and fought - to the death.
And so it is that this gathering represented what Doug Zembiec was a large part of, but most importantly, ensured grew and flowered. He brought together, through a dynamic spirit, brute physical strength, and his unyielding friendship, groups of warriors who pursued their mission with zeal and a deep belief in their cause. He, and the other warriors here today, helped foster this, our new generation of happy warriors, who will carry the colors forward. He was both a ruthless gardener and joyful planter on the blood soaked fields of valor which he tilled.
This was the family that gathered to honor this man, this was the family that grieved, but most importantly, this was the family that found strength through what Maj Zembiec brought to the world, and to our Corps.
And so, as SgtMaj Skiles performed his final mission in support of his commander, you could hear the tinkling of his medals it was so, so quiet. SgtMaj Skiles sword was drawn as he led the procession out of the chapel, accompanied by a mournful Gregorian chant, sung by a lone baritone, in navy whites, somewhere in the distance.
Maj W, USMC
16 May 07