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Bart Cole

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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. (6:25)

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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. (5:14)

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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. (6:18)

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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. (8:07)

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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. (6:49)

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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. (4:58)

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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.) (6:42)

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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. (6:50)

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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. (7:45)

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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. (8:55)