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| Afghanistan |
| Marines head for Med |
| 2001-09-20 |
Cheered on by a nation brimming with patriotic fervor, U.S. Marines bid farewell to their families on Thursday as three warships loaded with troops, tanks and war equipment prepared to sail for the Mediterranean. The mission was billed as a routine deployment, but with the Pentagon ordering a military build-up in the Middle East in response to last week's attacks on the United States, all were aware they could be heading to war. ``This time it looks like we're going to get called on so I'm going to do my job and if we get called on and we can help out, then I'm all for it,'' said Cpl. Clifford Lewis, 20, of Marysville, California, holding an M-16 rifle as he waited to board a bus that would take him to the USS Shreveport. About 2,200 Marines and sailors of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit based at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, have been mobilized. Buses carried them to the port in Morehead City through streets lined with people waving American flags and homemade signs. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |