Andrew Hesterman - Radioman: Twenty-Five Years in the Marine Corps: From Desert Storm to Operation Iraqi Freedom

Radioman:

Twenty-Five Years in the Marine Corps

For Kanik

From Desert Storm to Operation Iraqi Freedom

Andrew Hesterman and Robert Einaudi

First published in Great Britain in 2022 by

Pen & Sword Military

An imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

Yorkshire Philadelphia

Copyright Andrew Hesterman and Robert Einaudi 2022

Lyrics to Party at Ground Zero by Fishbone used with permission from Hal Leonard.

ISBN 978 1 39909 075 9

eISBN 978 1 39909 076 6

mobi ISBN 978 1 39909 076 6

The right of Andrew Hesterman and Robert Einaudi to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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When youre in the military, you tend to get a lot of questions from family, friends, even curious strangers.

Whats it like?

Are you glad you signed up?

Have you ever killed anyone?

As my fellow veterans know, the answers to these questions are never easy.

There have been many books written about the Gulf War, and more still about Iraq and Afghanistan. What could I possibly add?

Im not special. Im not a Navy Seal. I didnt kill Bin Laden. And I didnt discover the meaning of life.

But, in my twenty-five years in the Marine Corps, I experienced some things.

I saw more action than most in the Gulf War.

I went to flight school and learned to fly a cool old helicopter.

And I had a unique role and vantage point in Fallujah.

I also stuck around long enough to see the US military go from low-tech to high-tech, from post-Vietnam to post-9/11. I went from Private to Major, from grunt to aviator. In the middle of all this I met a beautiful helo pilot and married her, and together we raised a family.

Rob reached out to me about writing a book shortly after I retired in 2013. Ive known Rob since high school. He was one of the first people I told that Id enlisted. We met up for drinks the night I came back from the Gulf War in 1991, and he still remembered some of my crazy stories from Kuwait (including some of the stories Id tried to forget).

Like lots of guys retiring from the military, Id thought about writing a book. So I agreed to give it a shot. Rob and I tossed around lots of ideas about how we might structure the book, but we quickly decided to keep it simple and just tell it like it happened.

It took four years to write. We both have families and jobs and time-consuming hobbies. Some parts went fast and were easy. Other parts were difficult and dragged on for weeks or months. We wrote a lot and rewrote a lot. Rob cut most of my jokes.

I dont have an axe to grind or an agenda to push. For my fellow veterans, maybe youll find some laughs or understanding here. For those of you who enjoy military history, or like helos, maybe youll learn a thing or two (heck, I could write a lot more about helos if anyone is interested). And for those who are just curious or perhaps interested in joining, maybe this will spark your interest, or at least entertain you for a bit.

I make no claims to historical accuracy. If my memories are inaccurate, my apologies. This is all real to me, a life not programmed or planned. I am proud of my accomplishments, but Im not proud of everything revealed in these pages. A few of these stories were difficult or downright embarrassing to put on paper.

I changed the names of many of the people in this book. Some I couldnt reach to get their permission. Some are still involved in active duty, security, or law enforcement careers. In a few rare occasions, stories or characters were tweaked or combined to simplify the readability of the story. No disrespect or dishonesty is intended.

The lawyers wanted this point clear: No classified sources were used in the preparation of this book. It was screened thoroughly to ensure no classified information was included.

So, back to the original questions:

Whats it like?

Are you glad you signed up?

Have you ever killed anyone?

Turn the page and find out.

My conversion to the Orthodox Christian Church happened during the eight months I was home between two tours to Iraq. This was in late 2005 and I was living near Twentynine Palms, California, with my wife and our two small children. Father David, with permission from the Bishop, made an abbreviated catechism with an accelerated schedule to enable me to be chrismated before I returned to theater.

Kneeling before an icon of Christ, with Father David next to me, I began confessing my sins back as far as I could remember. I had spent a week preparing for my initial confession into Orthodoxy, which had to cover my entire life. I had made notes on everything from swiping a Twinkie in second grade to watching porn to killing men in combat. But now I was finding it very hard to proceed.

Every time I was involved in the death of a man, I put it in a mental box and stuffed it to the back of my mind. As a self-defense mechanism, I purposely avoided those boxes. But now I had to open all those boxes, along with other boxes containing memories of things I wish I had handled differently or not done. It was exhausting and humbling.

Father David listened to my confessions in silence. When I confessed things like losing my temper with my wife and kids or thinking about other women, I could feel his spiritual support. When I confessed to not always following the proper habit of prayer, I sensed his understanding. But when I confessed to sliding a knife under a mans ribs during the Gulf War, he uttered a slight hmmm. When I confessed to watching one of my guided bombs explode among a group of men in Iraq and then cheering as the bodies and debris flew out of the fire and smoke, I could feel him stiffen slightly. But he urged me to continue.

After I finished my confessions, Father David seemed to hesitate. He did not place the stole over my head and begin absolutions as is the custom. The growing silence was almost unbearable. Finally, he began to question me about the rather extreme circumstances I had described. He asked if any of my actions could be considered war crimes or violations of the Geneva Conventions. Confessions are privileged, but if a priest hears of a crime or believes an individual presents a danger to himself or others, the rules are a little different.