DDN
Tom Archdeacon: OSU football team honors fallen Lima Company Marines
By Tom Archdeacon
Dayton Daily News
It was close to nightfall on May 8, Mother's Day, and — unaware of the deadly consequences waiting inside — they decided to search one last house.
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<!-- inset --> <!--begintext--> The soldiers of Columbus-based Lima Company — part of the Third Battalion, 25th Marines, Fourth Marine Division — were going door to door in Ubaydi, near the Syrian border. They were looking for insurgents, caches of weapons and especially Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, who was thought to be in the region.
Cpl. Dustin A. Derga and the fellow Marines in his fire team — like most of the rest of Lima Company, reservists, citizen soldiers who just a few months earlier had been schoolteachers, factory workers, new parents, many just out of high school, some recently graduated from Miami University, Ohio State and Cincinnati — were unaware they'd come upon a stronghold of insurgency as they left their Amtrack, the tank-treaded amphibious vehicle to which Derga had affixed a giant skull and crossbones pirate's flag.
"Dustin and another fellow knocked on the door but there was no answer and when that happens they're supposed to kick it in," said Bob Derga, Dustin's dad. "When he couldn't get the door to budge — it was reinforced — Dustin turned to tell the other guy something wasn't right. And they say that's when his eyes got huge. He saw the two insurgents in the window just before they opened fire with automatic weapons. That's when all hell broke lose. They had armor-piercing rounds and they shot right through the concrete walls into our guys.
"Dustin was hit in the lower back. The other guy was hit five times and they both fell in the doorway of the house. The other guys in the team were hit, too. Finally the two insurgents ran out the back of the house and someone from the roof got them. Figuring the place was empty, another unit went into the house, but there were more guys in the basement and they fired up through the floor and killed more.
"My son held on long enough that they were able to rescue him, but he died right after that. ... Not long after that, what was left of his squad ran over a roadside bomb in their Amtrack and the rest of them were killed or wounded. Dustin's best friend, Nick Erdy, was killed."
Within two months, 23 members of Lima Company were killed and the Ohio unit had become the unwanted face of U.S. dead in Iraq.
Bob recounted the story Tuesday because he wanted to talk about how the memory of those fallen young men had been picked up by another bunch of young Ohio guys. He wanted to explain how the dead of Lima Company were kept alive by the Ohio State Buckeyes last Saturday. And he especially wanted to acknowledge A.J. Hawk, the OSU linebacker from Centerville, for the way he'd honored his son.
Last week, several Lima Company Marines visited an Ohio State football practice and talked with the players afterward. Then they handed the Bucks the pirate's flag that had flown over Derga's Amtrack. They asked if the players might take it with them into Ohio Stadium against Northwestern.
It was decided that Hawk, the hard-nosed, heartbeat of the team, would do it. He was the last to enter the stadium Saturday, and he cradled the flag in his hands as he ran toward midfield and gave it to coach Jim Tressel. After that, Hawk had one of the most defining games of his career as Ohio State steamrolled the Wildcats, 48-7.
Bob, a senior manager at Diebold in Akron, is the one person who knows the story of how the flag went from Ohio to Iraq and found its way back home.
He said his son graduated from Pickerington High in 1999 and joined the Marine Reserve. As he did the weekend warrior deal, he attended Columbus State, was a member of the Basil volunteer fire department and worked at a Columbus steel company. Although his six-year Marine commitment was nearly up, Dustin's unit was called up in January and by March he was in Iraq.
"Not long after he got there, he called me at work and asked me to send him a pirate's flag," Bob said. "He said he wanted to give the guys something to rally around and he wanted to scare the enemy. I sent him two big Jolly Roger flags and, even though it was against regulations, they said his sergeant looked the other way and let him fly it."
Five days before he was killed, Dustin posted an e-mail message on the "Reach a Marine" Web site. He said his unit had just returned from a weeklong mission and was leaving for another. He wrote: "I am so ready to come home."
Bob said some 10 hours after his son was killed, he and his wife, Marla (Dustin's stepmom), got the visit every soldier's family dreads.
"Two Marines in dress blues showed up and rang the doorbell. I could see them through the window and my heart just sank. ... And our lives have not been the same since. ... I believe he's in heaven and I'll see him again, but it's hell here on earth without him. There's not a waking hour that goes by that he's not on my mind. It's a whole different reality for us. ... Not seeing him get married, no grandkids or him there when we're old."
One small piece of solace has been the flag.
"After Dustin was killed, we pretty much assumed the flag was lost," Bob said. "But six to eight weeks later, I got an e-mail from his platoon sergeant. He told me he had the actual flag. That he'd taken it down after Dustin was killed. Once things settled down, he planned to let the guys fly it again, but then the rest of them were killed or wounded.
"He wanted to send me the flag, but I told him to keep it there until all the guys of Lima Company were home."
The unit finally returned in October, but in his reunions with the soldiers, Bob had not yet asked about the flag. And then Saturday when he was at a gathering of Marines, he learned the flag had been loaned to the Buckeyes.
"I can't tell you how great it was to hear it was taken out on the field with them. And the more I learn about A.J. Hawk, the more it seems he was the perfect choice to carry it. I hope they take it with them to Michigan, too, and they come back with a resounding win."
After being wrapped in so much loss, he finally wants to see that flag unfurled over some glorious victory.
Tom Archdeacon: OSU football team honors fallen Lima Company Marines
By Tom Archdeacon
Dayton Daily News
It was close to nightfall on May 8, Mother's Day, and — unaware of the deadly consequences waiting inside — they decided to search one last house.
<!--endtext-->
<!-- inset --> <!--begintext--> The soldiers of Columbus-based Lima Company — part of the Third Battalion, 25th Marines, Fourth Marine Division — were going door to door in Ubaydi, near the Syrian border. They were looking for insurgents, caches of weapons and especially Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, who was thought to be in the region.
Cpl. Dustin A. Derga and the fellow Marines in his fire team — like most of the rest of Lima Company, reservists, citizen soldiers who just a few months earlier had been schoolteachers, factory workers, new parents, many just out of high school, some recently graduated from Miami University, Ohio State and Cincinnati — were unaware they'd come upon a stronghold of insurgency as they left their Amtrack, the tank-treaded amphibious vehicle to which Derga had affixed a giant skull and crossbones pirate's flag.
"Dustin and another fellow knocked on the door but there was no answer and when that happens they're supposed to kick it in," said Bob Derga, Dustin's dad. "When he couldn't get the door to budge — it was reinforced — Dustin turned to tell the other guy something wasn't right. And they say that's when his eyes got huge. He saw the two insurgents in the window just before they opened fire with automatic weapons. That's when all hell broke lose. They had armor-piercing rounds and they shot right through the concrete walls into our guys.
"Dustin was hit in the lower back. The other guy was hit five times and they both fell in the doorway of the house. The other guys in the team were hit, too. Finally the two insurgents ran out the back of the house and someone from the roof got them. Figuring the place was empty, another unit went into the house, but there were more guys in the basement and they fired up through the floor and killed more.
"My son held on long enough that they were able to rescue him, but he died right after that. ... Not long after that, what was left of his squad ran over a roadside bomb in their Amtrack and the rest of them were killed or wounded. Dustin's best friend, Nick Erdy, was killed."
Within two months, 23 members of Lima Company were killed and the Ohio unit had become the unwanted face of U.S. dead in Iraq.
Bob recounted the story Tuesday because he wanted to talk about how the memory of those fallen young men had been picked up by another bunch of young Ohio guys. He wanted to explain how the dead of Lima Company were kept alive by the Ohio State Buckeyes last Saturday. And he especially wanted to acknowledge A.J. Hawk, the OSU linebacker from Centerville, for the way he'd honored his son.
Last week, several Lima Company Marines visited an Ohio State football practice and talked with the players afterward. Then they handed the Bucks the pirate's flag that had flown over Derga's Amtrack. They asked if the players might take it with them into Ohio Stadium against Northwestern.
It was decided that Hawk, the hard-nosed, heartbeat of the team, would do it. He was the last to enter the stadium Saturday, and he cradled the flag in his hands as he ran toward midfield and gave it to coach Jim Tressel. After that, Hawk had one of the most defining games of his career as Ohio State steamrolled the Wildcats, 48-7.
Bob, a senior manager at Diebold in Akron, is the one person who knows the story of how the flag went from Ohio to Iraq and found its way back home.
He said his son graduated from Pickerington High in 1999 and joined the Marine Reserve. As he did the weekend warrior deal, he attended Columbus State, was a member of the Basil volunteer fire department and worked at a Columbus steel company. Although his six-year Marine commitment was nearly up, Dustin's unit was called up in January and by March he was in Iraq.
"Not long after he got there, he called me at work and asked me to send him a pirate's flag," Bob said. "He said he wanted to give the guys something to rally around and he wanted to scare the enemy. I sent him two big Jolly Roger flags and, even though it was against regulations, they said his sergeant looked the other way and let him fly it."
Five days before he was killed, Dustin posted an e-mail message on the "Reach a Marine" Web site. He said his unit had just returned from a weeklong mission and was leaving for another. He wrote: "I am so ready to come home."
Bob said some 10 hours after his son was killed, he and his wife, Marla (Dustin's stepmom), got the visit every soldier's family dreads.
"Two Marines in dress blues showed up and rang the doorbell. I could see them through the window and my heart just sank. ... And our lives have not been the same since. ... I believe he's in heaven and I'll see him again, but it's hell here on earth without him. There's not a waking hour that goes by that he's not on my mind. It's a whole different reality for us. ... Not seeing him get married, no grandkids or him there when we're old."
One small piece of solace has been the flag.
"After Dustin was killed, we pretty much assumed the flag was lost," Bob said. "But six to eight weeks later, I got an e-mail from his platoon sergeant. He told me he had the actual flag. That he'd taken it down after Dustin was killed. Once things settled down, he planned to let the guys fly it again, but then the rest of them were killed or wounded.
"He wanted to send me the flag, but I told him to keep it there until all the guys of Lima Company were home."
The unit finally returned in October, but in his reunions with the soldiers, Bob had not yet asked about the flag. And then Saturday when he was at a gathering of Marines, he learned the flag had been loaned to the Buckeyes.
"I can't tell you how great it was to hear it was taken out on the field with them. And the more I learn about A.J. Hawk, the more it seems he was the perfect choice to carry it. I hope they take it with them to Michigan, too, and they come back with a resounding win."
After being wrapped in so much loss, he finally wants to see that flag unfurled over some glorious victory.
