Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
23:20 | It takes a lot of heart to become a Marine but it takes even more to become a Reconnaissance Marine. To endure the rigorous physical and mental challenges means you are one of the elite. This group of Recon Marines shares their personal stories of joining the Corps and how they came to Recon during a pivotal time in history. Part 1 of 3. (Caution: strong language)
Out of the blue, Shawn Patrick got orders to move from 1st Recon Battalion to 3rd Recon Battalion. OK, but can I go to Ranger school first? They let him go and that kept him from getting transferred because when he got back, they were mobilizing for Iraq and his orders had been cancelled. Soon, he was in the middle of the desert.
He had a good team in his Humvee. The Recon Marines were tearing around Iraq in open unarmored vehicles and team leader Shawn Patrick had men he could depend on. They were in the second vehicle when they ran into an ambush halfway across a bridge. Frantically, the convoy reversed and got out of there but he received a little lead souvenir.
As Operation Iraqi Freedom unfolded, the mission of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion was to draw out Saddam's forces and engage them while larger bodies of troops moved on Baghdad. With one Recon platoon, a journalist was embedded who turned their story into a series of articles, a book and an award winning Hollywood production named Generation Kill. Part 2 of 3. (Caution: strong language)
They thought it was over. In 2003 the men of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion stormed into Iraq during the initial assault. They returned home triumphant, mission accomplished. But then the word came that there would be an emergency redeployment. Saddam may be gone but the job was not finished and they were going to Fallujah. Part 3 of 3. (Caution: strong language)
They called him Pappy. Shawn Patrick was a few years older than most of the Marines at 1st Recon Battalion but he also seemed wiser so it was fitting. His group was training in Australia when 9/11 occurred and they became some of the first ground troops in the Global War On Terror, going first to Pakistan and then Afghanistan.
While recovering from the wound he received in Iraq, Recon Marine Shawn Patrick became an instructor at the Amphibious Reconnaissance School. After a few years there he joined the new Marine Forces Special Operations Command or MARSOC. There he helped the new organization determine it's structure and begin operations. He got to know Afghanistan way too well.
As a Recon Marine, Shawn Patrick had worked in five man teams and it started out that way when he joined the newly formed MARSOC, the Marine Forces Special Operations Command. The new organization went to fourteen man teams and deployed that way to Afghanistan, where growing a beard became an issue.
Everyone in service has others who helped him along the way. Shawn Patrick shares his experiences of two other Marines who were pivotal in his growth as a leader. He also shares why the music heard in Iraq was a little less than manly.
It was going to be just four years. Shawn Patrick wanted to check a box in his life that his father and grandfather had checked with military service. He joined the Marines because they're supposed to be the best. During his first Marine Expeditionary cruise he was dispatched to Somalia.
Shawn Patrick found the same thing in Somalia that he would find later in Afghanistan and Iraq. You could not tell who the enemy was. It could be anybody. When he got home and went on leave, he was recalled almost immediately to deploy to Haiti. After that brief affair, he heard about the Recon Marines and was determined to get in.
When he got to the pool part of the Recon tryout, Shawn Patrick was the only prospect left. He refused to give in, stayed in the water and kept fighting and was rewarded with a slot at Amphibious Reconnaissance School. It was tough but he made it through and joined the Recon Marines.
