Returning to dad duty

U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Charles “Cass” Spence returned to his Costa

Mesa home last week from the war in Iraq, but it isn’t business as

usual yet. Spence hasn’t returned to his job as a Newport Beach code

enforcement officer and instead still has to drive down to Camp

Pendleton as part of his tour of duty.

But he does get to drive home every night to his wife Carrie, two

young children and dog. He’s proud of his Marines and what they were

able to do in Iraq, but he’s even happier to be back. He’s even 40

pounds lighter as a result of his four months abroad.

On Friday, City Editor James Meier met Spence at his Costa Mesa

home to discuss the war and being home.

How did you become involved in the Marine Corps?

I joined the Army. I didn’t like the Army. That was 1985. It was

too easy. There wasn’t a sense, for me personally, of camaraderie.

The camaraderie in the Marine Corps is special.

How long were you in the Army then?

Five years.

And then you signed up for the Marine Reserves?

No. I signed up for active duty Marine Corps. Put it this way, I

joined the Army in 1985 over here by Kona Lanes, which I wish they

would never tear down. In 1990, I was up in Oregon going to school at

Oregon State and I just got tired of going to school up there and I

was in the Army Reserves at the time. I said, “You know what. I’m

done.” Let’s go into the Marine Corps active duty.

I lost all my stripes that I had. I was a sergeant at the time. I

had to go through boot camp all over again at age 23. Going against

18-year-olds, I was the old man. From that point, I went to the

school of infantry. I went to machine gun school as an 0321. That was

my job title or what you would call MOS. From there, I reported to my

unit, 3rd Battalion 5th Marines.

And then I was on a boat headed to the [Persian] Gulf. Just like

the movies. One right after the other. No breaks.

How did this compare to that experience in 1991?

Extremely different. The pace was quick. It was like taking over a

piece of territory the size of Riverside versus California. The thing

was it was more a force on force, meaning it was what you would see

in the movies. It was like the Battle of the Bulge. Here’s the enemy.

Engage the enemy. Destroy the enemy.

Here, on this one, they were cowards and they started mixing it up

as civilians and it got a little more dangerous -- sniper fire,

ambushes. Hence, my 40-pound weight loss because you’re always on the

lookout for everything and anything. A lot more of a civilian

population.

You have to remember: In the Gulf War, you were freeing a country

where the civilian population that was all for it 100%. Where in

Iraq, you had a 90% civilian population that was for liberation and

that little 10% had to screw everything up. They were earning a

paycheck from Saddam [Hussein]. The only reason they were fighting

back was they were defending their paycheck. They were your

murderers, your thugs and everything else.

For the most part -- I had flowers given to me by men, women,

children. I was kissed on the cheek by all of the above. I had women

and men praise Allah that we came through and the whole nine yards.

This was stuff that CNN and the rest of the guys don’t even show.

It’s all about oil to them. They don’t get it. I don’t think they

ever will.

What were typical days like in Iraq?

War is 90% boredom following by 10% action. You have to remember

that their whole culture and everything else is founded off the

Tigris and Euphrates rivers, so most of your civilization is based

around them. A typical city for them may have 400,000 to 800,000

people. Baghdad is a couple million plus. It’s not like Costa Mesa or

Newport Beach, where you have thousands.

So before you roll on in there, you have these long stretches

between cities. So it can be really boring going all the way up, but

once you start getting in there. If there’s a strong Ba’ath party or

Fedayeen Saddam outpost there, you’re going to hit some trash when

you start rolling up to the city limits. That’s the thing. Saddam

wasn’t stupid about this.

The Shiite Muslims were [oppressed by the Sunni Muslims and

Hussein’s regime]. They were happy to see us. We had done things for

them that had been suppressed for more than 30 years. Like they were

able make a pilgrimage to an Iraqi town for the first time in 30

years. It’s written by God that they have to do it, but Saddam

wouldn’t let them do it.

Where were you last in Iraq before leaving?

Golf Company 2/23: We made it to Baghdad, secured the U.N.

building with bayonets fixed, to chase away the looters. At that

point, two days later, we were detached and put with a task force

called Task Force Tripoli. From there, we were the only infantry

company to go up to Tikrit. Those guys on the front of the L.A.

Times: those are my boys.

Were there any moments that you thought would be your last?

Oh yeah. I said a prayer pretty much every time we got under way .

It didn’t matter. And at the end of every movement, it was always the

same thing, thanking God for making my Marines and myself safe.

Nasiriyah was intense, to say the least. Lot of fire there.

The one that stood out the most. Just before we made our movement

into Tikrit, we were ambushed at some crossroads and I just remember

a round going off about 20 to 25 feet away from me. The shrapnel hit

an unexploded ordinance on the deck there and set it off. I just

remember sitting on my butt smelling burnt hair and going, “Carrie’s

going to be pissed.”

She told me, “No heroics,” and was out there setting up machine

guns because we were taking fire. I was pointing to the mortar men to

set up their gun line here and directing the trucks and troops out of

the way so no one would get hurt. Then, all of a sudden, that guy

just popped off that rocket-propelled grenade and bang. That’s what

you always see these guys running around with mostly.

That was probably the scariest time because I thought Carrie was

going to be mad at me. I got lucky.

Did everybody get “lucky” in Golf Company?

Yeah, I’d say so. We were lucky.

Any injuries or anything?

Yeah, we had a truck. We were on our way to a counterattack and a

truck went off a bridge about 18 feet. It was a seven-ton truck. It

was at night in the worst possible conditions out there. We couldn’t

get helo Medivacs in. We had to use tracks and some good ol’ boys

from Texas came in and took every one of my wounded out of there.

So what has your first week back in the U.S. consisted of?

Sleep, just being with my wife and kids. I just feel so guilty

because everyone has done so much. I haven’t really had a chance and

thank everyone personally. I haven’t had the time.

We actually had a week off, so I had everything lined up and then

it was like, “No, you have to come back to work on Tuesday and you

have to do this right now.”

That’s where we get that phrase “Semper Gumby” -- always flexible.

So why do they still have you busy down there?

It’s the demobilization process, to get the reserves off active

duty and things like that. There are requirements that you must meet

-- medical and dental and just everything.

Aside from your family, what did you miss most while in Iraq?

I missed my dog. I missed Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. Straight

up. People in these towns you won’t find any place else.

When will your life feel normal again?

When I’m back at work for the city. I’m one of those people who

just has to keep working.

It’s trading one extreme for another. Here I’m going from getting

shot at to getting shot at with complaints.

Any final thoughts?

Yeah, I’ve got some serious ones. Her [wife Carrie] right there.

I’m proud of my Marines and everything that they’ve done because I’ve

been working with them for about five years now, almost six years. I

could’ve gotten out, but I chose to go fight with them because I

didn’t want to see them go alone. You get that type of feeling toward

your boys.

But I got to tell you. Carrie is new to all of this. I was

actually very concerned for her. I knew I had the support here for

her, but it doesn’t matter. It’s something new entirely. Without her

being as strong as she is, look at her. She’s an awesome mother. I

don’t know how to put it except I’m just glad she’s my wife. I’m glad

she’s as good as she is.