Trio faces combat

Lance Corporal Kevin Haines. Photo provided

Lance Corporal Kevin Haines was most likely engaged in combat in southern Iraq over the past week.

"Last I heard he was in Kuwait City, next stop Baghdad," said his father, Kim Haines, of Sisters.

Lance Corporal Haines is with "Charlie" Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines.

"I have all the confidence in the world (that) they're going to get the job done," Kim Haines said. "Unfortunately, this has to be done. I'm really proud of him -- of all of them."

Kim Haines served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War era and he sees a vast difference between attitudes then and now.

"The difference I see and feel most is... they want to be there," he said. "They're exactly where they want to be doing what they want to do. I don't think you could find people who are more well trained to do what they do.'

Marine Jasen Elbers. Photo provided

Fellow leatherneck Jasen Elbers is a specialist in explosives demolition. The 28-year-old Sisters man has been a Marine for eight years and expected to be out of the service by now.

However, with the looming Iraq crisis he fell under a stop-loss program and will remain in the service for another year. He, too, is in the Persian Gulf.

"I'm very proud of him for serving his country," his mother Julie Rowat said. "I don't like it that they locked him in another year and made him go over there and fight."

Jasen will take over Gordon's Last Touch cleaning service when his Marine Corps service ends.

Kristopher Clark joined the Army as soon as he graduated from Sisters High School in 1999. In fact, he'd already enlisted in advance in his junior year.

Kristopher Clark,

101st Airborne.

Photo provided

"All he ever wanted to do was the Army," said his mother, Nancy Clark, who now lives in the Seattle area.

Clark is with the 101st Airborne in Iraq. His mother says she is nervous, especially since she has little information and recent news reports have revealed American casualties and the capture of American prisoners of war.

"He really hasn't been able to tell me anything," she said. "Every question I ask is 'I can't answer that,' so I really haven't got much information."

Clark's enlistment ran out in May, but he was held in the service under a stop-loss program. Nancy said she did not think her son would make the Army his career.

"That was his original intent, but I think he's changed his mind," she said.

Nancy recalled asking her son when he enlisted if he would still make the choice if he knew for certain he would go into combat and be killed.

"His response was: 'If my death means that someone else can have a better life, then yes,'" she said. "I really admire him for his love, but I'm just afraid that's going to come true."

Nancy said she copes with the fear and worry by working and staying busy. She said she watches enough news to stay updated, "but then I have to walk away."

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Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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