Mark Gelina honored by comrades

COMBAT OUT POST RAWAH, Iraq - Marines from the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion paused combat operations today as they paid tribute to one of their fallen brothers.

After only two months in Iraq's Al Anbar province, 2nd Lt. Mark C. Gelina, a 33-year-old from Moberly, Mo., and platoon commander with Company D, died Nov. 4 in a nonhostile incident.

Marines of all ranks gathered outside among Light Armored Vehicles to pay their respects to Gelina's memory, represented by a Kevlar helmet set atop a rifle stuck bayonet-first into a wooden pedestal, adorned with dog tags and combat boots.

During the memorial, several Marines came forward to share memories of Gelina and pay tribute to his character.

"For 33 years, he gave everything he had," said Maj. Sean Quinlan, 43, commander of Company D. "His dedication is what makes Marine Corps tradition. He made history."

Marines here remember Gelina as a man who talked everyday about how great his family was, and how his wife and four children were the most important thing in his life.

This devotion to what he cherished in his personal life echoed into that of his professional life as well, according to fellow Marines.

"He wasn't only my peer," said 2nd Lt. Douglas J. Verblauuw, a 24-year-old platoon commander with Company D. "He was a mentor as well, I looked up to him as a man, a husband and a father."

Marines here say that Gelina brought the same positive values that made him such an outstanding individual to the Marines he commanded.

"Anyone could only hope to come half as close to the job that he did with his men," added Verblauuw, a Bergen, N.J. native.

After the reading of several prayers, the Marines sang a slow rendition of "Amazing Grace" before approaching the memorial in small groups or individually to say their last goodbyes.

"I don't look at this as a memorial, but a way to honor him" said 2nd Lt. Douglas A. Woodcock, a 30-year-old platoon commander from Greene, Mon. "I ask you to think about him and do the job he would have done, that's what he'd do for you"

2nd LAR is part of Regimental Combat Team 7, a Marine Corps command that is responsible for providing security to more than 30,000 square miles in Iraq's western Al Anbar province.

The battalion is based in Rawah, a city of 20,000 people that is 150 miles northwest of Baghdad along the Euphrates River. They work with the Iraqi people to help stabilize the region and develop Iraqi Security Forces.

This is the third death the battalion has suffered since they arrived in Iraq two months ago.

From the Moberly Monitor

Related Link:
Mark C. Gelina killed in 'non-hostile incident'