Memorial Day 2005 - Part 2

Pouring over words penned by their son, a 1997 Brown University graduate, the Gavriels concluded there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent him from joining the Marines, where most recruits were 10 years his junior.

“He bore deep into his heart, knowing this torment, which stood as the ultimate barrier to so many, was really the threshold to promises he had made to himself during a time that had long passed,'’ Gavriel had written about his agonizing decision to join the Marines.

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From the emails:

“So how, after all this, did a guy like me end up in Iraq? The answer is pretty simple when I look to the young Marines at my right and left. I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to do something, no, give something, to deserve all the good things we, as Americans, enjoy and sometimes take for granted as we move through the years of the good lives we lead under the safety and freedom of our flag.'’

“Everyone lost something on that terrible day of 9/11. I lost my close friends, brothers you might say. Guys I grew up with, teammates, pals, mentors and confidants. I watched the towers fall, helpless, from a block away in the streets of New York and made a promise before God that I would do all I could to keep something like this from happening again. No man can know just exactly how much his effort has changed the world out here, but together we have chased much evil away from power and have shown those who, for one reason or another, hate our way of life, that we are a nation of people who refuse to live under the threat of terror.'’

“Had to sprint over a 200-yard pontoon bridge after an eight-hour patrol to clear a section of an island in the Euphrates where we took mortar fire. By the time I reached the far side I couldn’t feel my legs".

“I was tripping over (expletive) goats, chickens, rolling ankles and watching other Marines just plain faint. Fun stuff. This is the kind of stuff that makes for good memories, better stories - but sucks to live through.'’