Marine Heroes at the Beach

If I had read my news paper yesterday, I would have been able to tell you more about the Marine unit I posted about yesterday.

There are heroes among the 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, 4th Amphibious Assault Battalion. An though I made light yesterday how their training seemed more play than anything, it has been effective training for this unit that served in Iraq and helped rescue more than 50 people in Biloxi and Pass Christian after Hurricane Katrina.

GULFPORT - Standing on the beach in Gulfport on Saturday under clear, sunny skies, both the hurricane and the war in Iraq were a distant thought for some of the Marines - such as Cpl. Zach Schudrowitz - of 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, 4th Amphibious Assault Battalion.

For Schudrowitz, it was good just to see his old friends back in action.

Schudrowitz has spent the last several months in a burn unit in San Antonio. He was recovering from injuries received when his amphibious assault vehicle, or Amtrac, blew up last May, killing eight Marines who were from a different company being transported by this group.

Schudrowitz was incredibly glad to see his friend, Staff Sgt. Dennis Woullard. Woullard had pulled him from the burning Amtrac that day and was injured himself in the process, taking shrapnel to his head and getting several burns.

The two men embraced warmly when Schudrowitz arrived late in the morning and they chatted while looking out over the glistening water as their comrades sped around in circles in their Amtracs.
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Some members of the platoon, like Lance Cpl. Brett Cuevas, were here during the storm. Cuevas, of Slidell, said several of the Marines who stayed behind drove out of the Seabee base with two Amtracs in the early afternoon of Aug. 29 and made their way to the Van Duc Buddhist Temple in Biloxi where they met up with Biloxi police and began rescuing people.Sunherald

I am so thankful for the Marines of this unit. Not only have they served with honour in Iraq but they also helped resuce citizens in Mississippi. Not only that, they along with the Seabees and the servicemen and women at Keesler Air Force are still helping us recover down here. Yesterday was a a glorious day at the beach in Gulfport. The tempatures were in the low 70's and they did seem to be enjoying the training yesterday. They even had pizza delivered to the beach!





Lined up after a training run in the Mississippi Sound.










The seagulls came swooping in soon after the pizza was delivered.