Brock Babb honored by comrades

For the first time in his life, Tom Fleming felt intimidated by another man. Stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., the young Marine survived boot camp and was preparing for the first Iraq war when he met Brock Babb.

Babb was Fleming's platoon sergeant. Babb was only 5-feet-6, but the core of his muscular body was built "like a tree stump," Fleming said. His fiery red hair stood out in a crowd, and he spoke with a straight face in short, direct sentences.

During the war, the men gradually became friends, sharing stories about their Southern Indiana heritage between early morning cups of coffee in a Saudi Arabia desert. There are two ways to live life Babb told Fleming - the Babb way or the wrong way.

The Babb way meant honoring your country, backing your Marine brothers and loving your family. Fleming took those principles to heart 16 years ago and never forgot them.

Babb himself never stopped living the Babb way, and that later brought him back to Iraq at the age of 40. Two and a half weeks into his second mission, Babb was killed by a roadside bomb in Anbar province. He was riding in an armored

Humvee when the bomb exploding, killing another Marine and wounding a third, according to Staff Sgt. Tim Kosky, spokesman for the Terre Haute-based Marines reserve unit.

The attack occurred Sunday in a region considered a stronghold of Sunni insurgents.

"I was devastated," said Fleming, 36, of Evansville. "There will never be another guy like Brock."

Flags around Evansville were lowered to half staff Tuesday at Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel's request. Kosky and another Marine from Terre Haute drove to Babb's parents' home to meet with family. "All we worked on (Tuesday) is whatever is necessary to get Brock home," said his brother, B. Jay Babb, 29.

No dates have been set, but Babb's body will be flown from Iraq to Germany to Dover, Del., for an autopsy. His remains then will be flown to Louisville, Ky., and driven to Evansville, B. Jay Babb said.

Babb's wife, Barbara, was the last relative to speak to him. They talked twice on the phone after Babb reached Iraq.

Fleming received a call from his old buddy the day Babb left Camp Pendleton near San Diego, where he had been stationed for training.

"Tom Tom," Fleming recalled Babb saying, as Fleming answered the phone.

Fleming instantly recognized the voice. Babb was the only person outside Fleming's family who called him "Tom Tom." He learned about the nickname during the first Iraq war. Not all of the Marines in their platoon got mail. Men passed around their letters so no one would feel left out. One day, Fleming received a letter from his mom. It included a message from his grandmother, "Hi Tom Tom."

"And when Brock read that, from that day forward for the next 18 years, he called me Tom Tom," Fleming said.

Babb left the Marines after the war. He settled comfortably into his life as a sheet metal worker and volunteer coach for his children. But after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacks, the itch to return to Iraq began to burn.

"He said he couldn't stand to sit on the sidelines and see Marines fighting without him getting back in the fight," said Michael Lathon, who also served with Babb during the first war.

Lathon, 39, of Louisville, Ky., who stayed in Marines, returned to Iraq in 2004, the same year Babb came back to the Marines. He was ready for action, having dropped about 30 pounds.

At Camp Pendleton, Babb reassumed his old role as mentor and leader. Most of the roughly 80 soldiers in the 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines that would leave for Iraq with him were half his age. Like Fleming, they bought into the Babb way of life.

"During their last telephone conversation, Fleming warned Babb of the dangers of the Anbar Province. "I told him, 'It ain't no joke,'" Fleming said. "Folks over there are getting killed. You ain't got guys like us watching over your back this time."

"Aw, that's all right," Babb responded. "I'm with some good guys. I trust these guys too."

His words were straight and to the point, the Babb way.

From the Courier Press

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Brock Babb killed in combat