Subtle War of Status Erupts at Marine Base : Military: Resentment is festering between Gulf War veterans who have returned to Camp Pendleton and those who had to stay behind.
CAMP PENDLETON — Amid the rejoicing over victory, friction has developed at Camp Pendleton between some newly returned veterans of the Gulf War and Marines who quietly served stateside during the conflict.
Many Marines who wanted to fight alongside their comrades against Iraq feel guilty or depressed because they were left behind to run the base, train fresh troops, and handle less-than-headline-grabbing jobs supporting the war effort.
But what small comfort they take in having performed important noncombat duties is being undone by a festering resentment caused by some young Gulf War veterans who are bragging about their war experiences.
Adding to the discord is the concern by many of those left behind that their chances for promotion may suffer in the shrinking peacetime military where medals and combat records can make a difference in career advancement.
About 30,000 Camp Pendleton Marines, including reservists, were sent to the war zone. So far, 29,000 have returned. During their absence, 12,000 Marines remained on base.
In an effort to quell the tension between those who went and those who stayed, the authoritative voice of a sergeant major, the highest enlisted rank, has been publicly raised on base to remind all Marines that they are equal.
In a commentary to the base newspaper, Sgt. Maj. H.L. Hatchett, a Vietnam veteran, wrote of being approached by a group of corporals who complained that Marines who remained behind “were being subjected to various types of humiliation and harassment, sometimes even fighting.”
A base spokesman, 1st Lt. Michael DiLullo, acknowledged, “It’s very prevalent and some Marines have been talked to about it. We’ve all seen it.”
Besides reports of verbal altercations and terse remarks, part of the bruised feelings stem from something more subtle: Gulf War veterans still wear their distinctive tan desert camouflage garb--known in military jargon as cammies-- setting them apart from other Marines in mixed-green cammies.
To many Marines, including Lance Cpl. Richard Edwards, who suffered a knee injury and stayed behind while his combat unit was deployed, the desert wear is sported by some Desert Storm troops as a status symbol.
When he shops at the PX, Edwards said, “they’ll be walking out in their desert cammies. You (sense their attitude is) ‘Hey, I just got back, get out of my way. . . .’ ”
Younger veterans are guarded in discussing the problem.
A 21-year-old private first class, who asked to be identified only as Doug, said: “I served my country, OK? I did the job. I know guys that didn’t get to go and I don’t hold it against them. They’re Marines just like me.”
But pressed about whether the young infantryman feels more special because he served in the war, Doug paused, then grinned and nodded, “Yeah, more special.”
The rift, which more seasoned Marines blame on the zeal of youth involved in a heady adventure, isn’t expected to dampen plans for an elaborate homecoming celebration. Nor does it change the pride that all Marines express for the corps’ dramatic role in helping to decisively win the war.
Still, “this is very touchy,” said Staff Sgt. Vicky Turney. “We all need to be adult about it.”
Typical of the emotions felt by those who were not sent to the Gulf are those of Capt. Crawford Kirkpatrick.
“We’re thankful they’re returning back as heroes, but I personally don’t feel like a hero,” Kirkpatrick said.
He was once an enlisted man, a rifleman, who left the Marine Corps, got a law degree, and re-entered as an officer. During the war, despite efforts to get shipped to the Persian Gulf, Kirkpatrick stayed behind as a lawyer attached to the base command.
“The Marine Corps is all about fighting, everybody wants to go to combat,” he said. “You really feel sort of useless. . . . Man, I really did want to go.”
But Kirkpatrick also knows he performed an important task, helping countless Marines get their legal affairs in order before they shipped out.
“We worked incredible hours,” he said. “When you look at what we did, we accomplished a lot.”
Another Marine lawyer, Capt. Sean Freeman, a 1983 graduate of Annapolis, appealed unsuccessfully to two superior officers to get deployed. Although he doesn’t hold a combat job, he still hankered for the experience of handling military cases in a theater of war.
For career-minded Marine officers who aspire to be colonels or generals--incredibly high goals in a narrow field--the war may boil down to a simple truth.
As Freeman put it, “There were those who went and those who didn’t.”
Some Marines, like Maj. Mark Thiffault, think that because the ground war lasted only 100 hours, a limited number of Marines had sufficient experience at arms to secure the destiny of their careers.
And, Marines point out, some specialized military jobs don’t primarily involve combat skills. So deployment or stateside service won’t necessarily alter chances of promotion.
However, there’s no dispute that combat experience is a big credential for such occupations as infantry or artillery, for example.
In those cases, Marines who pulled stateside service would probably lose the advantage to war veterans. As one observer put it, “Since combat is our business, it gives somebody an acid test.”
