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Photograph courtesy of Andrew Balcunas Training Days: Andrew Balcunas trained in Egypt on the light armored vehicles like this one, seen involved in target practice in Egypt. By Amy Jenkins Like many people, Andrew Balcunas was awakened by a phone call on the morning of Sept. 11 and told to turn on the news. But for the U.S. Marine and lifelong Campbell resident, the news of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., meant a change in his flight scheduled for 10 a.m. that morning. The Del Mar High graduate was in his home in the Santa Cruz Mountains visiting his family for a one-week leave when he received the phone call from his fiancee's mother. He was to fly from San Jose to Camp Lejuene, N.C., where he and his platoon were to leave for a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean on the amphibious assault ship the U.S.S. Bataan. And although he didn't end up flying out until Sept. 17, the ship left on schedule. From the time the ship left the United States on Sept. 20 until November, the platoon performed the regularly scheduled training. For two weeks in Egypt, the 47 members of the platoon trained with their light armor vehicles - armed, 12-foot-tall mini tanks with eight wheels. During extremely hot days, the Marines practiced setting up ambushes and raids, learned how to conceal vehicles and themselves and set up targets for shooting practice. Balcunas, 21, whose interest in the military was piqued by a coworker at the Campbell Community Center pool, where Balcunas worked from seventh grade through college, was surprised at how well he shot at the rifle range while in boot camp. "This is a boy who wasn't allowed to have toy guns in the house," says Andrew's mother, Karen. "It was scary to send my son out where he could get shot at, but he's in a good group. He's well-armed and well-trained. I'm proud of him because he has made a career choice." But the extreme circumstances of his career choice became a reality when the colonel canceled a stop in Albania and informed the platoon that they were heading through the Suez Canal to Afghanistan. Although he was very excited to go to Afghanistan, there were unanticipated inconveniences: He didn't get to take a shower until the army arrived near the end of his 60-day stay, and while on guard during freezing-cold nights, all he had to keep warm was a fleece, a beanie and ski gloves. To make matters worse, the Marines were fired on at the Kandahar Airport, where they had set up a perimeter. The Marines in the foxholes on the line saw tracers and muzzle flashes, and the nearby building was annihilated. The next day, Balcunas' vehicle surveyed the area and the building was bulldozed. Meanwhile, Balcunas' parents, two sisters and fiancee were kept in the dark about his whereabouts. On satellite phone calls home, Balcunas could not tell his family much. "He wasn't allowed to tell us where he was," Karen recalls. "We learned where he was from CNN. We could only say 'Are you where we think you are?' When we learned the boat had gone through the Suez Canal, it was not a good day for me." And when the family heard on the news that the airport had been fired upon, they "freaked out," Karen says. "Lots of people think they threw people together to leave after Sept. 11 happened," Balcunas says. "But we had been training for six months up to that point, and it just happened to be that we were supposed to leave nine days after Sept. 11. We still weren't sure we were going to the Middle East yet. We were planning on our regular, scheduled desert training event." 
Andrew Balcunas The reason the U.S.S. Bataan went to Afghanistan was to replace the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit - a ship from the West Coast that was already in Afghanistan and had been "on float" for six months. Under normal circumstances, a platoon visits various liberty ports, where they "get to see lots of different countries, hang out with their buddies and don't have to worry about training too much," says Balcunas, whose job on the light armor vehicle is to scout the area and provide security. But these Marines were kept busy. Twice a day, Balcunas and fellow Marines went on patrols to local villages, visited bombed-out buildings and warehouses, and found out about any minefields or suspicious activity from talking to the heads of villages. On these patrols the Marines also passed out candy from Meals Ready to Eat to the local children. And from eating several Meals Ready to Eat a day - each of which contains 3,000 calories - Balcunas gained 20 pounds. When Balcunas boarded the ship in February to leave Afghanistan, he got to eat better food, take hot showers and sleep in a bed. On the way home he visited United Arab Emirates, Malta, Rota and Spain. Balcunas has enjoyed his experience in the Marines and plans to reenlist once his four-year contract is up. He hasn't become discouraged by drill instructors yelling orders at him in boot camp, telling him when to eat, sleep and shower, or by his experience in Afghanistan. He is determined to see an end to terrorism. While in Kandahar, people told him about Middle Eastern countries involved with terrorism - countries to which, he feels, troops should be sent. He is frustrated that Osama Bin Laden has not been found and that the FBI may have known information before the terrorist attacks, he says. In the future he would also like to attend San Jose State University to pursue a career in criminology or become an officer in the Marine Corps. But for now he plans to return to Camp Lejuene with his new wife, Gabby. During a three-week leave after Afghanistan, the couple married and went to Hawaii on their honeymoon. |
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