Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
8:55 | He was at sea when the 9/11 attacks occurred, then he was locked down at Camp Pendleton. Finally, Marine Bart Cole was given leave at home. Everybody knew there would be some action soon, and a deployment to Afghanistan was scheduled and then cancelled. Disenchanted, he left the Corps and went to college, but he felt left out.
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Bart Cole felt he was lucky to be doing his Marine basic training on the West Coast. He thought it compared favorably to wrestling, football and farm work and it didn't faze him a bit. He was impressed by the kind words for his family from the DI and that became a foundation for him. (Caution: coarse language.)
His first deployments took him to Egypt and up and down the US west coast. Then Marine Bart Cole undertook some training in special ops and at the thoroughly enjoyable Coronado boat school.
When he shipped out in 2001 with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Bart Cole got to visit some interesting places. Thailand was the hands down favorite. Back in Hawaii, a special cruise with family members was loaded up and got under way and it was during this excursion that Sep.11 dawned at sea.
Marine Reservist Bart Cole was called up and deployed to Iraq. After an uncomfortable stay in the deep desert, his unit was tasked with security around the Abu Ghraib prison complex. He found out why Marines were sent there, because they weren't Army. The Army ran the prison and was dealing with the abuse scandal, which caused a torrent of outrage.
He'd been in the Corps for quite a while, but Bart Cole had not yet seen any combat. That all changed on a highway in Iraq as he and eight fellow Marines were returning from a supply run. They drove up on a MP Humvee which was under an all-out assault by insurgents. He jumped from his vehicle and joined the fray. Part 1 of 3.
Bart Cole had stumbled upon some American soldiers in the process of being ambushed by Iraqi insurgents. He jumped up on their 50 cal and began firing at two Iraqi positions. He and his fellow Marines broke up the attack, which was short but intense, especially because it was his first firefight. Part 2 of 3.
A Major showed up after the firefight, surveyed the carnage and said to Bart Cole, "There were only eight of you?" He and his fellow Marines had just saved a group of Army MP's from being wiped out by insurgents. It had been his first taste of combat and it took a while for his mind to settle down. Part 3 of 3. (Caution: coarse language.)
The Marines were a security force for the exterior around the Abu Ghraib prison complex. Bart Cole was a squad leader who was experiencing the hate and discontent the abuse scandal had sparked in the populace. After a rocket and mortar attack killed some of the Iraqi prisoners, he was given a particularly morbid task.
Bart Cole had a Humvee blown out from under him. The squad leader wasn't seriously injured, but one of his Marines took a round and was evacuated. He wrote the man's family to offer support, something he learned from one of his mentoring sergeants.
Bart Cole's squad inherited some nice up-armored Humvees from the 82nd Airborne. He stenciled "US Marines" on them to distinguish his unit from Army units. They had some extra guns, but no mounts for them. Time for a little midnight requisition.
The insurgents used several vehicles as they were attacking the perimeter of the Abu Ghraib complex. The last was driven by a suicide bomber, but he was blown up before he could get anywhere. Bart Cole had to go collect what was left of the driver. A young Marine said he wanted to look inside the body bag. No, kid, you don't.
The bond is tight with the men in your unit and Bart Cole names and salutes several of his comrades. He recalls a mission which had them take up a position near a mosque. Suddenly, he heard movement in the dark.
What just happened to us? Bart Cole, along with many others, asked himself that question when he returned from Iraq. It was difficult to just absorb back into society. He stayed in the Marine Reserve and, eventually, his service was again needed overseas.
Squad leader Bart Cole had been there before, but many of the Marines with him in Iraq were on their first deployment. They were in Fallujah, which was supposed to be quiet, but wasn't. Vehicles were getting blown up at the rate of one a week, so they switched to foot patrols.
He figured he would die. He was a target everywhere he went and the MRE's were spoiled. Bart Cole made it out of Fallujah but not all the men in his squad did. He recalls a fellow Marine who reminded him of a character from Lord of the Rings.
Everybody loves Doc. The Corpsmen were universally popular and respected and Bart Cole had a couple of good ones in Iraq. He also grew to respect the rural Iraqis, who were only trying to scratch out a living like he had done, growing up on a farm.
Bart Cole was in the fourth grade when he wrote to the Marines and asked to join. He was a little premature, but during his senior year, he enlisted after a disappointing spring break.
