HAPPY HOMECOMING - Celebrating the return from Iraq of Marine reservist Johnny Gillespie IV, second from left, are from left, girlfriend Courtney Walker, mother Rebecca Gillespie, father Johnny Gillespie III and sister Jennifer Gillespie. ROB LAYMAN/Valley Press

Marine reservist comes home

Corporal recalls camaraderie

By RICH BREAULT
Valley Press Senior Staff Writer

"I was tired from the return trip, but I wanted to drive. That's one of the things I missed most," Gillespie said, sitting at a table shaded by a tree at his "welcome home" party Sunday afternoon.

Gillespie, a reservist with Golf Co., 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines, 4th Marine Division, based in Los Alamitos, was activated Feb. 5, 2002, along with his fellow reservists and underwent nearly a year of extensive training before arriving in Kuwait on Feb. 2, 2003, attached to the 1st Marine Division.

"We were the only Marine Reserve battalion fighting alongside active duty Marines during the war," Gillespie said. "Sometimes, Marine reservists are looked down upon by active duty Marines because we train only a weekend a month, but once we were activated, we received more training than some of the active duty Marines get. I guess we needed to catch up to everyone else."

Not only did they catch up, but they were the only Marine Reserves infantry unit in Iraq at the beginning of the war.

Quiet by nature, Gillespie offered few details about his time at war. At Gillespie's party, preteen boys fired off questions in rapid-fire fashion - "Did you kill anybody?" "Did you shoot anyone?" "Did you see any dead bodies?"

Gillespie smiled and shook his head "no."

The boys looked puzzled for a moment, then went back to playing in the pool.

"They don't need to know. All they need to know is we went there and we did our jobs," Gillespie said. "Sure, there will be guys who will like to tell their stories, but most of the guys are humbled by what we went through. The details of war aren't for everyone. They ask, but sometimes they don't really want to know."

Much of what he saw during the war appeared surreal, Gillespie said, "sort of like special effects at Universal Studios."

"At times it was like watching a movie. However, the smell was the difference. War has a distinct smell to it. Movies and special effects don't have that smell."

Gillespie, a 1996 graduate of Palmdale High School, played two years of football at Quincy University in Illinois. He returned to the Antelope Valley, where he became a correctional officer. When his reserve unit was activated, Gillespie worked at California City Correctional Center.

"I figure we'll probably be activated by the middle of the month and be put back on reserve status," Gillespie said. "I plan on taking a month off and then return to work."

The month off will be a well-deserved break. It will give him more time with his family, friends and girlfriend.

And some time for himself.

Under the cover of darkness in the early morning hours of March 29, the seven-ton troop carrier Gillespie was riding in with 18 other Marines (three in the cab) jumped a curb after crossing a bridge, rolled over and down an embankment.

"Fourteen Marines were injured and evacuated to a field hospital and then to a hospital in Kuwait." Gillespie suffered leg and hand injuries.

"It was pitch dark. No moon," Gillespie said. "It was so dark, our NVGs (night vision goggles) didn't really work. The driver came to the end of the bridge, but never saw the curb. And over we went."

Gillespie spent three days in the hospital and it was another week before he rejoined the rest of his battalion, which had made it into Baghdad.

"All the time I was in the hospital, all I wanted to do was get back with my unit," Gillespie said. "I trained with these guys and I felt they needed me. I didn't want to let them down."

Gillespie's dad, Johnny Gillespie III, said he received a phone call from his son in the hospital.

"He talked like a true Marine," said Gillespie's dad. "He said he couldn't wait to get out so he could get back to his unit. Hearing that, I knew everything was OK.

"When he went on active duty, I didn't like it. I didn't like him being there. I told him I'd rather have gone there than him. But he said he'd rather go there than his dad.

"So I told him to watch out for himself and to do what you have to do in order to come home."

In Baghdad, members of Gillespie's unit helped flush out the enemy, conducted raids and drove security patrols in Humvees.

He and his fellow Marines learned to "read people's faces and expressions," Gillespie said. "It was very important because some of our gestures meant something different to (the Iraqis). And that created some confusion."

Gillespie said he was glad to be a reservist on active duty because he believes camaraderie among reservists is different from among most active duty troops.

"In active duty units, guys come from all over the United States and may not have that much in common," Gillespie said. 'With a reserve unit, you have guys who may have known each other for four years, all live in the same general area and may do things together with the guys in their unit and their families.

"Going there with guys you've known for a long time, well, was different. Special. I never thought when I joined the reserves that I would get the chance to go into combat.

"Even though we trained active duty for a year, I'm still amazed that they sent a reserve unit to fight alongside active duty."

Gillespie's mother, Rebecca Gillespie, is amazed that her son is home.

"He's been 'coming home' for almost a month. They changed his departure date five times," she said.

"He had an 18-hour flight and they gave us 24-hour notice. We got to Camp Pendleton about 8 p.m. (Thursday), but we didn't get to see Johnny until about 3:15 a.m."

Gillespie's mother said she only occasionally watched television news programs during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"I didn't want to know too much about it," she said. "My faith kept me going. I relied on prayer."

"When I finally saw him, my prayers were answered. He told me he wanted to drive home. I thought he'd want to sleep. Instead, he talked our ears off while we tried to sleep."

Asked what was most memorable about his time in Iraq, Gillespie said, "one thing I'll never forget is seeing the (Iraqi) people's faces after they were liberated. They were so happy. Even as soon as we crossed the border into Iraq, people were already smiling. They knew why we were there."