Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
4:33 | That first deployment to Iraq was all about the artillery for Erik Halfmann. They fired a lot of shells. It was only a couple of months after he returned that word came down. We're going back, this time as provisional infantry. Some new Marines were brought in including one who liked to joke around a lot.
Keywords : Erik Halfmann artillery gun chief Iraq advance party Jim Mattis provisional infantry Military Police (MP) Chance Phelps machine gun
His dad was a Recon Marine for 20 years with service in Vietnam so it was only natural that Erik Halfmann would feel the same call to duty. He was working for Coca-Cola when the news about 9/11 hit his workplace. Time to sign up.
It was a plum assignment. Erik Halfmann's platoon became the security detachment for Gen. John Kelly. They traveled with him everywhere he went. It was on one of these convoys that an IED struck the lead vehicle and then the ambush began in earnest.
Erik Halfmann's job as part of Gen. Kelly's security detachment meant that he was in both Fallujah and Ramadi at various times. IEDs were always a threat. Soon after returning from this second deployment, the men of 2nd Platoon gathered in Wyoming to meet the family of their fallen comrade, Chance Phelps.
Life as a Marine after two combat tours was a lot slower. Erik Halfmann hated to say it but it was actually boring. He also had a new desire to start a family so those two things led to his leaving the Corps.
As a veteran, you want people to have a positive view of what you did. Erik Halfmann feels that his duty in Iraq had a positive effect. He recalls handing out soccer balls to kids and how the Iraqis welcomed them during Saddam's overthrow. One thing that is very positive is reunions with all the guys.
