"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afriad; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9
On a 7 hour bus ride from Mbabane, Swaziland to Pretoria, South Africa I found myself intwined in an interesting situation. I was sitting next to one of the men on my squad, Kirk, and he was reading a book entitled "Blood Stripes: A grunts view of the war". As I glanced over his shoulder and read a few lines I couldn't help but notice some names, units, and places I recognized from my days in the Marine Corps. In fact, after asking him what the book was about he begin to ask me a bunch of questions about my old unit which was in the book, and some of the Marines that had an influence on my life during my first deployment to Iraq. As I would later learn, this was going to be an interesting bus ride that brought back a lot of memories and reminded me of the legacy of a man that influenced my life in ways I may never fully know.
The book jumps back and forth between 2 Marine units as they fight terrorists during Operation Iraqi Freedom 2 around April, 2004. The first unit is my old battalion, 3rd Battalion 4th Marines call sign "Darkside" and the battles they fought in during this timeframe such as the battle of Karmah, and the initial invasion of the city of Fallujah. As he read, Kirk asked me a bunch of questions in regards to different Marines, do you know an Osbourne he asked? "Yes" I responded, "I knew him as Ozzy though." "Do you know a Smudzski?" Kirk asked. "Nope, I don't think I'd ever met a Smudski." "What about a "Cpl. Garcia?" "Yes, he was 1st platoons squad leader prior to me getting to 1st platoon." As he continued reading and I continued to read over his shoulder, I noticed that he wasn't just reading about my old battalion, he was reading about my old platoon, 1st platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion 4th Marines. Although the events took place 6 months prior to me joining 1st platoon, I quickly realized I knew all of the stories in the book and had heard about them first hand from the Marines who were there. These Marines were my seniors as leaders as this 18 year old Marine took his first steps on a patrol in the city of Fallujah in January, 2005. These Marines had a legacy all to their own as they were the ones who initially invaded Iraq in 2003, and had raced across the Iraqi desert beating the Army to the city of Baghdad. These same Marines were on the street corner guarding the square as Iraqi civilians tore down the statue of Saddam Hussein that some of you may have watched on tv, and it was these same Marines who would initially push into the city of Fallujah, and later complete the first 3 deployments of Operation Iraqi Freedom. These men were my brothers, my heroes, and my mentors.
As Kirk was reading, he asked me about a LGB(Laser Guided Bomb) that was dropped on a mosque in the city of Karmah. I think I must have laughed out loud as I responded, "You wana watch a video of it?" I opened my computer and showed Kirk the video that 1st platoon Kilo company had made during their 2004 deployment to Fallujah and Karma. In the video is a short clip of the 1,500lbs bomb destroying the mosque that Kirk was just reading about. I was given the video in December of 2004 after I had joined 1st platoon, right before we deployed to Fallujah Iraq in Jan. of 2005 weeks after the second invasion of the city. Going through more of my pictures and videos from my first deployment, I stumbled on more pictures from Kilo Companies deployment in 2004 that I had downloaded from another Marine who was there in Karmah and Fallujah. Last year I acquired these photos as I went on a road trip across the United States and had visited numerous Marines during the 39 states, 2 1/2 month trip. One of the Marines I visited was my first team leader from Kilo Co.,1st platoon, Kevin "Booger" Cameron. Cameron and I had gone through a good portion of his pictures from my first deployment with Kilo Co, which was his 3rd and last. Before I left his home, he had actually given me numerous pictures from our shared deployment in 2005, but also from his deployment the year before.
As Kirk and I went through the pictures of the 2004 deployment I received from Cameron, I started pointing out different places and people to him. "Alright Kirk, heres a picture of Fallujah, heres one of Karmah, here's Lt. Stokes 1st platoons Platoon Commander." "Heres a picture of Cameron and Smith, heres one of Temple as well, does it mention him in the book?" "Don't think so" Kirk responded. As we continued to look through the pictures we found a picture of one of the main characters who was written about in the book seated between two Marines that I knew. Seated on the right of Smudzski(a main character) was Cpl. Garcia who I later knew as Sgt. Garcia, and to the left of the author was Cpl. Amaya. Kirk actually recognized the picture from the book and as we looked through the pictures in the book we realized that the same picture that was on my computer was the picture in the book.
Recognizing Cpl. Amaya in both photos, I asked Kirk "does it mention a Marine named Corporal Amaya in the book?" "Yes, it actually does, it talks about him a lot and mentions his story during the battle of Fallujah" he responded. I knew about Corporal Amaya, in fact I knew him very well as he had a large part to play in my life although I had never met him. Corporal Amaya was killed during the battle of Fallujah as he entered a house during intense house to house fighting. Amaya saved the life of another Marine as he chose to enter the house first even though he was the squad leader and he wasn't supposed to enter first. He, leading by example stacked up as the number 1 man and was the first one in the house, he didn't get far. As he entered into the doorway, or what we call the "fatal funnel", he was fatally shot in the neck by an insurgent with an AK47, and dropped died in the doorway seconds later. Corporal Amaya was my squad leader(Cpl. "Country" Smith) and team leaders(Cpl. "Booger" Cameron) squad leader. He was the Marine that passed on all of his knowledge to those who would later lead me in patrols through Fallujah less than a year later. Cpl. Amaya taught and lead my squad leader who would later save my life by discovering an IED seconds before it detonated in the middle of our patrol giving me time to get out of the way before it blew up. There is no doubt that my life was saved that day because of the action of Cpl. Smith. Corporal Amaya left a legacy that rippled through my life although I never met him, and in fact his legacy continued through my deployments and what I taught my Marines through the wisdom I had learned from those he trained. Some things that Amaya passed on from Smith and Cameron through me are still being used in Afghanistan today as 3rd BN 4th MAR is once again in the fight…..
(Cpl. "Country" Smith, Myself, and Cpl. "Booger" Cameron at a Kilo Co. reunion in Vegas, August 2010)
As Kirk continued to read and as I sat there on the bus as we pushed on towards the city of Pretoria, I couldn't help but think about all of this. Today, 4 days later, these things still weigh heavily on my heart. The bible says "that a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children"(Proverbs 8:21) and I couldn't help but think that a good man also leaves a legacy for those around him. I have heard that Cpl. Amaya was a christian and I am grateful for that, I look forward to meeting him in heaven. But he left a legacy of knowledge and wisdom that has effected my life and those around me, above me and even those in my charge. This mans legacy carries on to this day in the country of Afghanistan in a war that has its similarities and differences to the one he fought in, in Iraq. The point is, Cpl. Amayas legacy still lives on today and I couldn't help but ponder what his legacy looks like. It looks like the success of Kilo Co. 1st platoon through more deployments to Iraq as my knowledge no other Marines have lost their lives in 1st platoon(through 2009). It looks like the friendship and memories that this man shared through his Marines that were under his charge and the stories that are still told about him to this day. And it even looks like the ripple effect that his leadership had on Marines in the years to come, Marines such as myself, and all the Marines I trained and the Marines that they trained as well.
What do I want my legacy to look like? Or how about you, what do you want your legacy to look like? We all have a choice in life, we can make an impact on those around us and people we come across everyday, or we can just live our lives in simplicity and comfort and never reach out and have an impact on anyone else. We all have a choice to make, a choice to positively influence those God puts in our lives, or to care only about ourselves and live our lives with a me-centric focus. As I ponder what I want my legacy to look like, one big thing comes to mind, I want the world to remember me as one who lived his life in such a way that it reflected nothing less than the love of Christ. John the baptist was known as the man whose sole purpose in life was to point to the coming of Jesus Christ and he echoed his legacy when he saw Jesus the first time and said "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."(John 1:29) That was Johns legacy fulfilled and Jesus himself said there is no one greater than John the baptist. What is my legacy fulfiled?
Yes I am a former Marine Corps scout sniper something that I am extremely proud of and I have other things I'm not as proud of. I'm a former alcoholic, womanizer, a former stoner, drug user etc. But I know that if God can change my life from a life of destruction and chaos to a life of love and compassion, then God can do it for anyone. I want to be known as the man that loved others regardless of who they were, what they looked like, or what they've done in life. I want to be know as one who judges a person not for what they've done in life, but for who God has made them to be. Everyone has the breath of God inside of them, and each one of us has a created value and destiny, we are all valuable regardless of what we've done. Let my legacy be one that speaks to the heart of the broken hearted, one that shatters barriers between race and religions, and points the way to the only hope that is in the world, Jesus Christ. If I can influence the life of just one person and lead them to our Heavenly Father and His love for them, then I've truly left "A legacy worth leaving."
