The Orange County Register
May 21, 2002
They
were in Australia on Sept. 11. They had just completed a
week of Marine training. It was their night off, and
they began to hear rumors of a bombing. Then they
learned of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
attacks.
Capt. Kemper Jones, 28, and Brian Griffing, 26 --
both assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit at
Camp Pendleton -- were ready to do their part when their
nation most needed them. So they moved.
Before heading toward Afghanistan, they stopped in
East Timor, near Indonesia, for a scheduled humanitarian
assist. They arrived in Afghanistan around Thanksgiving
and stayed in the region until January.
Jones, of Tustin, and Griffing, of San Clemente, told
their separate stories, with the help of color slides,
to about 40 people Thursday night at St. Clement's
Episcopal Church. The two Marines are parishioners of
the church.
``We knew the (United States) was behind us when we
were there,'' Griffing said.
He said they received mixed reaction from the locals
when the Marines entered Afghanistan. The two men spent
time at Camp Rhino and in Kandahar.
``Some of them were happy to see us; some of them
were obviously not happy,'' Griffing said.
Their presentations told a story of Marines
encountering more dust, extremes of heat and cold, and
lack of food and showers than combat. But the Marines
were prepared at all times.
Miriam Jones, 26, said she is happy to have her
husband back, but she understands he is doing his duty
and what he loves. She maintained contact with him via
e-mail while he was at sea and in Afghanistan.
``That's his job, and that's what he trains for,''
she said. ``I wouldn't say you expect it, but you're
kind of ready for it.''
Maureen House of San Clemente watched the slide show.
``I was amazed, blown away,'' she said. ``I was
impressed to hear in person what we read in the
newspaper. To get the first-person, I-was-there kind of
thing. ... I think everybody should be made aware of how
difficult it is.
``I think it's more complicated than we think it
is,'' House said. ``We say the words; they do the work.
We sit around and say, `Yeah, we're free.' (They say):
`This is the mountain, this is where we sleep. We don't
sleep at the Hilton.' ''