MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif -- "Stacy, will you marry me when I come back?" Lance Cpl. Jeffery W. Scheibe asked hopefully - using his local newspaper as a medium for a wedding proposal.
Scheibe, an infantry rifleman with 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines, 4th Marine Division here, thought this mode of proposal a unique way to pledge his undying love - a prevailing sentiment at Camp Margarita as part of the unit's departure for deployment to Southwest Asia.
The unit's 900 Marines - the first Marine Corps Reserve infantry unit called to Camp Pendleton in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, left here Feb. 19 to join the 1st Marine Division on the front lines in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, said Sgt. Maj. Jon D. Barter, battalion sergeant major for 2/23.
"First Marine Division has specifically requested us. We are looking forward to joining our brothers," he said.
Since their activation a year ago, 2/23 has been standing by awaiting its chance at deployment.
"They've been here a year waiting," said Barter. "Now they will have the physical participation. They are pumped and motivated for the deployment."
"I'm excited, anxious and nervous about going," said Scheibe, a Huntington Beach native who has been in the reserves for three years.
The battalion, with units in California, Nevada and Utah, has reserve Marines who come from a wide variety of civilian jobs, including doctors, lawyers and members of the Los Angeles Police Department.
"I'm looking forward to taking care of business and coming back," said Staff Sgt. Ryan J. White, company gunnery sergeant, Headquarters and Service Company, 2/23, and one of 13 members of the LAPD with the unit. "The hardest part is leaving my family."
The Marines of 2/23 are not only ready to go - they're seasoned, with countless years of experience among them leading the way.
"This battalion has a great deal of maturity," said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Thomas G. Tomka, infantry weapons officer and a Vietnam veteran. He added that 2/23 prides itself on its abundance of combat veterans.
Tomka said technology has changed in the 30 years since Vietnam - but the spirit of a grunt has not.
"The visualization of Sept. 11 is etched in everyone's minds, and it has touched us all deeply," said Tomka. "We are prepared to carry out whatever mission we are given to prevent Sept. 11 from occurring again."
Although many 2/23 members are excited about deploying the general consensus was this: "Hopefully we'll be home soon."