Backstory: US Marines 'invade' the Pop Tucci diner
A US Marine unit trains in three North Carolina towns to prepare for civil affairs duty in Iraq.
from the February 26, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Harper's son is also a marine and served during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. "I don't advise any parent watching CNN when their kid is over there, because it will drive you mad," said Harper, an Army veteran himself. "I don't know about this war. This one is hard to figure out, and it would be really hard to have to bury one of your own for it."
Harper explained the basics of operating a mill and some of the social ills of seemingly idyllic Jones County. "We've got a crack epidemic here," he said, pointing to a neighborhood across US Highway 17. "On the weekends during the summer, you can see them set up outside selling it. They have guys riding on bicycles selling it."
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Along the tree-lined streets of Trenton, another Marine patrol stopped to introduce themselves to residents and ask who they were, what they do, and what problems they have in town. They passed the Jones County courthouse without a glance at the two war memorials out front, one for a Navy seaman who was killed during World War II, another for Michael Harris Jr., an Army sergeant who died in Saudi Arabia in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm.
Turning down a side street, the patrol parted for a passing pickup truck, apparently driven by another veteran who had emblazoned "68 Viet Nam Vet 69" on the back of his cab. "Check that," one Marine commented.
A moment later, they chatted with a resident walking to her mailbox. "Civil affairs is like customer service – you're out shaking hands, you're trying to be nice to people, and the customer is always right," said Cpl. Jason Talbot.
By lunchtime on the final day of the exercise, most of the marines had exited Trenton. Paula Tucci, who runs Pop Tucci's with her husband, had collected signatures from the marines on a "Pop Tucci's" T-shirt. She pinned the memento on the wall by the front counter.
"It's been a trip having them here this week," she said. "Even though I don't know them, I'm sorry to see them leave."
At Jones Middle School, a civil affairs team engaged dozens of students with an outdoor display of Marine equipment. LCpl. Joel Vannatta reached down to shake the hand of an awed sixth-grader. "When I first joined the Marines, I knew that going to Iraq was a good possibility," said Corporal Vannatta of Jacksonville, Fla. "I would have been disappointed if I had spent four years in the Marines without going. I want to do something with all this training I have."
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