'You just value life more'
Veteran back in state after supply line duty in Iraq
BRIAN HUBER

Freeman Staff
Published: June 17, 2003
DELAFIELD — After months of training and serving in Kuwait and Iraq with the Marines, Cpl. Ken Geason (Melvin McGee) has come back with a new appreciation for the things around him.

"You just value life more," the 23-year-old Marine reservist said Saturday. "Sometimes you're scared enough where you didn't know if you were going to live through it. ... You value America a lot. We got it made here."

Geason served with the 6th Engineer Support Battalion of the U.S. Marines in Kuwait and Iraq. The battalion pulled together 1,700 reservists from around the country for its first-ever deployment as a whole unit. The battalion's job was to keep bulk liquids — fuel and water — moving through a supply line that stretched up to 90 miles through the desert in the largest such network ever created in wartime, according to the Marine Corps.

Geason operated a bulldozer, creating berms to support massive fuel bladders that sent gas flowing through a makeshift pipeline to advancing coalition forces. From March 21 to May 10, the unit distributed more than 8 million gallons of fuel and 4.5 million gallons of water to coalition troops.

Geason said he was proud of his place in history.

"They told us the concept was always there but it had never really been done before," Geason said.

Conditions trying

Geason had to contend with what locals said were the worst sandstorms in years, as well as temperatures that soared to 120 degrees regularly, he said. Despite wearing goggles and protective equipment, the sand got everywhere, Geason said.

"You couldn't see a foot in front of you sometimes. You couldn't work until it let up," he said. "You just pretty much eat the sand. Even if you had something over your face, you'll inhale it. You just spit it out."

Geason said it was about six weeks between showers at one point, and he kept as clean as possible by using baby wipes he took with him. Receiving gifts from supportive Americans helped, Geason said, as did cards from school children.

"The support was great. It was good to know people back home supported you and understood what you had to go through," he said. "Just to get a letter from someone to tell you what's going on back home really helps."

That correspondence was especially important because Geason had precious few chances to use a telephone, and when he did, it was usually a one or two-minute phone call to his girlfriend, Jean Yang. Troops frequently bartered objects they'd received in the mail for an extra phone call, Geason said.

Geason's mother, Carolyn, said local publicity involving her son resulted in a flood of support on the home front.

"We got mail from total strangers, saying 'thank you to your son for what he is doing for the country,'" she said.

Geason said his convoy was shot at by a sniper on its way to the city of Nasiriyah in the early stages of the war, but there were no injuries reported. His up-close contact with the Iraqi people was much more peaceful, and troops gave civilians food until they were told to direct the civilians to food points organized by coalition forces.

"They were friendly and welcomed us with open arms," Geason said, "but by us doing that we were in more danger."

Traveling through Iraq, Geason's unit also got a guided tour of the ancient city of Ur, where troops saw a dwelling reputed to have belonged to the Jewish patriarch Abraham. Geason said the people appeared to treat the antiquities of Ur with respect.

Worth the effort

Geason said the green grass of home was a welcome sight after looking at the seemingly endless sand for three months. Geason is staying with the Marine reserve unit in Green Bay for up to 90 days, where his unit is waiting to service its gear after it returns home from the Persian Gulf.

Geason then plans to return to his civilian life as a volunteer firefighter with the Delafield Fire Department. Geason is also an artist, with his works displayed at the Waukesha Art Crawl and other areas art shows.

Seeing the poverty that the Iraqi people live under — Geason said he was stricken by the sight of women drawing water from a muddy pool — led him to believe that helping the people improve their quality of life was worth his effort.

Geason added that he believed whatever weapons of mass destruction Iraq had were possibly secreted to another location. The fact that Saddam Hussein remains unaccounted for does not trouble Geason, either.

"He's out of his government. Even if he is alive he is not going to come back and suppress his country as he did before," Geason said. "The people are free now and they do not have Saddam Hussein looking over their shoulders."