85-Year-Old Seattle Woman Recruited By Marines

85-Year-Old Seattle Woman Recruited By Marines

October 13, 2005

By Bryan Johnson

SEATTLE - A Seattle woman who has been an anti-war crusader for the peace for the past 58 years is being recruited by the Marines.

Barbara Bobbie Mercer got a letter from General W.E. Gaskin, the commanding general of Marine Corps recruiting.

It says: Now is the time to put your unique language skills to the test as a member of the United States Marine Corps. Your command of the Arabic language will be invaluable...

The letter came to the Mercer home on Capitol Hill late last month. It's a home where the password is peace and peace messages are on display.

He wanted to recruit me for my skill in the Arabic language, she said. I don't speak Arabic. I learned a little French but my accent is terrible.

The general thought she did. He urged Mercer to seize the opportunity to defend our nation and spread the message of freedom.

Her reaction: Well, I just thought they were pretty desperate for wanting an 85-year-old.

Yes, she's 85, and participated in her first picketing in 1947 -- a march against the draft.

The Marine Corps admits this was all a mistake. They are looking for a few good men and women. Young men and women. They do have a delayed entry program, but that's for those who want to graduate before serving.

The letter goes on to say: We'll push your physical and mental limits beyond anything you've ever known. When that's read aloud, she laughs.

Did that intrigue you? I asked. She replied: No. Her husband Lyle added: She just came back from senior aerobics, Bryan. That's all she needs! To which she added: I was pushed to the limit there.

Incidentally, although the Mercers have marched in peace rallies since 1947, they are not pacifists. They saw the horrors of war.

Lyle was a paratrooper in World War II. Bobbie was an Air Corps nurse who flew with the wounded from Europe to the United States. They met while both were lieutenants in the Air Corps.

Lyle Mercer said of his reaction to the letter: My first reaction was there must be some sort kind of another huge Bush goof-up to be recruiting an old, retired veteran. He quickly corrected the reference to old with the word mature. He and his wife both laughed.

They both say they are too old for war, but they are always ready for peace rallies. The last one they attended was a rally for peace in Iraq on Sept. 24,that was just one day before their 60th wedding anniversary.

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On lookout for insurgents, Marines yearn for home

Outside Sada, Iraq -- As the crimson sun rolled behind the Taraq an-Naja Mountains, a group of U.S. Marines scraped their shovels across the infertile, rocky soil of western Iraq, trying to set their mortar launchers deeper into the dust.

In the Euphrates River valley before them twinkled the white and yellow lights of Sada and Karabila -- key Iraqi towns near the border with Syria controlled by fighters loyal to insurgency leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Marines from the 1st Mobile Assault Platoon, Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment camped out Thursday on a moonless night in the desiccated expanse overlooking the towns, setting up mortar firing positions and keeping an eye for any insurgent movement inside the settlements.

As they set up their mortars, the Marines discarded the metal bindings of 81mm ammo cases, leaving the long metal strips on the ground like some strange petrified seaweed mysteriously beached onto the Iraqi desert. On the bottom of a dry riverbed, salt reflected the receding light. A lightning flash, an early sign of fall, lit up the horizon over Sada, and a thunderclap followed.

Then darkness enveloped the encampment, and all became smells and sounds.

A Marine laughed in the distance. Another one, closer, lit a cigarette, which glowed orange in the dark. Dogs barked in Sada, and a donkey screamed. A humvee smelled of diesel fuel. A muezzin started a solemn call for the evening prayer. Somewhere, a car sped down a road. From time to time, helicopters roared overhead. Marines whispered loudly over the racket of rotors.

Cool wind carried noises across the shadowy desert, and Marines listened and sniffed in the darkness.

Night is different, said Gunnery Sgt. Derrick Link, 32, as he listened to the static on the humvee radio, a lifeline for his platoon to battalion commanders. You rely on different senses in the night. Your hearing instead of your sight. Everything sounds a lot closer than it is.

Night is also a time to contemplate and reminisce. The Marines talked about home.

Navy medic Michael Larson, 30, talked about 19th century Russian writers (I love Gogol!) and food.

I used to make focaccia bread, with olives and Parmesan cheese, he said. I'd make pasta Alfredo. I love to cook. Make the whole course.

When I go home, it will be, like, my girlfriend, food and my daughter, these three, nothing else.

Pfc. Dale Fellows, 19, talked about his girlfriend, too. She was a year ahead of him in high school in upstate New York, and now she goes to Northeastern University in Boston. She is an intern at the Boston Globe.

Link talked about his 9-year-old daughter, Samantha, who started cheerleading classes this year.

Stephen Thomson, 30, talked about his dream to go to medical school to become a radiologist.

They work in teams, and they really know their anatomy, and I'm very interested in anatomy and physiology, he explained.

At 9 p.m., desert wind kicked up dust and carried it across the encampment. The temperature dropped from the daytime's 95 degrees to 62 in a matter of minutes. Marines materialized out of the opaque darkness, stopping by Link's truck to chat, rest and smoke. Some moved on, disappearing in the blowing sand; others stayed to seek the comfort of companionship.

They rarely attack in the dark, Lance Cpl. Jared Treadway, 22, consoled himself, his shoulder-mounted launcher leaning against Link's humvee.

Link disagreed.

Last time we stayed overnight, last week, the first night we got hit pretty bad, he said, standing near his humvee, which was parked facing the lights of Sada.

But this time the troops were luckier. An orange trace of a lone mortar round arched out of Sada at about 5:30 a.m., injuring no one.

Maybe they are just waiting it out; maybe they're feeling there's a big fight coming, they just don't know when, Link said. That's what I would have done.

At 1 a.m., the Marines start digging foxholes next to their humvees.

Earlier in the evening, when their convoy crept through the desert, the Marines had watched the tracks that crisscrossed the desert: humvee tire tracks; small tracks, from gerbils or mice; and larger ones, from foxes or stray dogs. The ones to watch out for were human tracks -- possible signs that someone had laid a roadside bomb in the fine, ankle-deep dust.

But where they finally made camp, the dirt was packed hard and strewn with small rocks, making the wasteland look like the surface of the moon.

Next to the passenger door of his humvee, Link drew a rectangular shape on the ground with the tip of his shovel, and forcefully stabbed the ground. The shovel went in less than one inch.

F -- ing not good, he muttered. He took off his Kevlar helmet and his body armor. This ground is hard as a f -- ing rock. There's no f -- ing way.

But he continued to dig, as did the troops around him. For several minutes, the air filled with the sound of metal scraping against rock.

At one point, Thomson stepped away from the 3-inch-deep hole he had managed to gouge in the ground, contemplating his work.

It's like digging a grave, he says. I'll lay in my little grave, I'll put my sleeping bag on top of me, and I'll be warm. I've found out that the deeper you dig, the warmer it gets.

Last time we were out, he continued, the first day, I dug like a champion. The second day, I didn't dig deep enough, and I was cold.

He paused, then smiled.

I talk about digging as though I'd been digging graves all my life, he said, shaking his head.

Soon, everyone except for the Marines pulling guard duty was lying in the foxholes they had managed to dig. It became so quiet that the ticking of Link's wristwatch filled the air.

Then there were steps.

A Marine carrying a backpack walked past Link's humvee, looking lost.

I'm just freaking -- oh yeah, he said, remembering something, and walked away.

Link stretched out in his foxhole and fell asleep. Two hours later, the muezzin's call for prayer once again filled the dark predawn air.

Wake up, wake up, prayer is better than sleep, the muezzin called in melodious Arabic.

The Marines' night in the desert was over.

E-mail Anna Badkhen at abadkhen@sfchronicle.com.

anything about being "gay." I'll tell you where, in the indoctrination centers known as public education.

Excuse me, being homosexual does not make one happy and well adjusted. I've never ever seen when blatant sin ever lead to being happy and well adjusted.

An eagle also needs to land sooner or later. Barak is neither left or right. Yes, he does lean a bit to the left, but for years we've had Bush lean to the extreme right thanks to his righteous evangelical radicals. This scares me a lot more. Please read and enlighten yourselves. Those of you who are still undecided are to be pitied. This campaign has been going on for so long, if you still don't know who to vote for....I would say you have a hell of a problem. Take your blinders off, Falwell is dead and I wish Limbaugh was too. The American people have brainwashed themselves and they like it. There are other great countries in the world, not just the U.S. They are proud patriots also and believe their country is the best. So wake up, READ about history and other countries. I live in a country that I would bet hardly of you know, let alone the capital. The country is called Canada and the capital is Ottawa. I too am proud of my country and I think IT IS THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD! Stop listening to those stupid radio talk shows who are nearly all republican........get a life. Vote for Barack, my God you folks need a change!!!

abort with no questions asked because it is her uterus and no one's business. Yet you wish to take away the rights of people who don't believe in abortion and work in the medical field. No job should require you to do something that you find unethical. If you want to abort your child....fine....that is your decision and one that you will have to answer for and live with. So many people are on here screaming about their rights and how dare their rights be taken away. Forcing someone in the medical field to be involved in something they feel is unethical......isn't that taking away their rights. They have a right to refuse. There are other people in the medical field who would willingly perform an abortion....so why force those who find it unethical? That is just wrong.

As I watched Americans caucus in Iowa and enter voting booths in New Hampshire these past two weeks, I felt the first stirrings of hope for my country that I've felt in a very long time.

It is as though we are peeking out of our caves of fear and despair, still wearing our winter coats and galoshes but preparing to shed them as we step into the promise of springtime.

For seven years, this country has been held in the grip of men who have used us for their own ends. On Sunday, it will be exactly one year until we see the last of the Bush administration.

That is reason for celebration. But it is not reason for turning our attention away from the criminals in the White House. There are times when I barely recognize the carcass of America that they continue to strip as they prepare to discard us.

Only one more year. But we know from experience the kind of damage George Bush and his crowd can do in the space of 12 months. Lest we forget, let's look at just a single year � 2001 � under this, the worst regime in America's history.

Jan. 20, 2001: On the day of Bush's inauguration, his chief of staff issued a moratorium halting all new health, safety and environmental regulations issued in the final days of the Clinton administration.

Jan. 23: Bush reinstates the global gag rule barring U.S. funding for abortion counseling abroad.

Feb. 5: Bush suspends the "roadless rule," which protected 60 million acres of forests from logging and road-building.

anti-union executive orders, including measures to prohibit project labor agreements at federal construction sites.

March 7: At Bush's urging, Congress repeals ergomonic regulations designed to protect workers from repetitive-stress injuries.

March 15: Bush abandons his campaign pledge to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.

March 20: The Bush administration moves to overturn a regulation reducing the allowable levels of arsenic in drinking water.

March 29: Bush shuts down the White House Office for Women's Initiatives and Outreach.

April 4: Bush's Department of Agriculture proposes lifting a requirment that all beef used in federal school lunch programs must be tested for salmonella.

April 9: Bush's Department of Interior proposes a limit on lawsuits seeking protection of endangered species.

May 11: Bush abandons the nation's international effort to crack down on offshore tax havens for the rich.

May 16: Vice President Dick Cheney's task force releases its National Energy Policy report, calling for weaker environmental regulations and massive subsidies for the oil and gas, coal, and nuclear power industries.

June 19: Cheny refuses to release records of his energy task force meetings to the General Accounting Office.

June 28: Attorney General John Ashcroft announces a policy that would require gun records be destroyed one day after a background check rather than 90 days later.

July 9: Bush opposes a UN treaty to curb international trafficking in small arms and light weapons.

July 26: Bush rejects an international treaty on germ warfare and biological weapons.

Aug. 6: During the presidential daily briefing, Bush is warned that Osama bin Laden is determined to strike in the United States.

Sept. 11: Terrorists organized by bin Laden crash hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing thousands.

Oct. 29: Bush's Justice Department acknowledges but won't identify more than 1,000 individuals detained since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Oc.t 31: Ashcroft authorizes monitoring of attorney-client conversations in terrorism investigations.

Nov. 1: Bush issues an executive order blocking the release of presidential records.

Nov. 14: Bush's Justice Department issues regulations allowing illegal immigrants to be detained indefinitely.

Dec. 12: Bush announces that he intends to pull out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty unilaterally.

Dec. 27: Bush repeals the "responsible contractor rule" that had required scrutiny of safety and environmental law violations in the awarding of federal contracts.

There are 372 days left 'til Jan. 20, 2009. Let us hang onto hope for the future.

Some of my political views are not the norm here, but that is ok, viva LA difference! I will just explain a couple,

1- I do not understand why anyone, particularly women, would vote for the Republicans- they are sort of like the Chinese Communist Party, or the govt. in 1984. For example, a few years ago, the said Murphy Brown was a terrible influence. Never mind that the character was financially well established, and a mature woman actually making a decision, rather than a teenage whoops! This year at the convention, lots of folks wore buttons talking about how much they support unwed mothers. My feeling is they only support them while pregnant, and don�t care about them once the baby is born. In fact, they scorn them. If a woman works, and something happens to her child, she is viewed as an unfit mother because she should have been home. On the other hand, the whole �welfare mom �was demonized because she just �sat at home making babies rather than working�

In addition why support a party who does not have your best interests at heart? Most people are middle/lower middle/ and lower class� why support the elite few?

2- Roe v. Wade is a very smart ruling, and anyone who really understands constitutional law, would agree. �Roe v. Wade was decided primarily on the Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a part of the Bill of Rights. The Court's decision in this case was that the Ninth Amendment, in stating that "the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people," protected a person's right to privacy.�
No one has the right to say that their belief should supersede mine. I believe life does not begin at conception, ergo, no one should legislate my body, worry about your own.

3- I believe in gun control. No one needs anything more than a hunting rifle (if that) in their home. Period. No one is keeping the government in check by keeping a gun- it is a load of malarkey. Crime has decreased- not because of guns, but because people were more prosperous. That has ended. We need social programs, and for corporations to be a part of society and not just answer to share holders so that we can all work together to turn things around. That will keep crime down- not everyone owning killing machines.

4- Everyone is entitled to health care. It should be a right, not the privilege of the few. We call ourselves civilized, yet we have people starving or dying from lack of health care right in our midst.

5- I am against the death penalty. I never got the eye for an eye thing. Yes, I have been the victim of a violent crime, but a violent reaction doesn�t undo what happened, it only re-enforces the whole cycle.

you will get an extra 13 bucks a week. Woo hoo! Now let me ask you this......he is giving tax cuts to 95% of the people and yet these cuts only go to people making under 75K a year.....surely not 95% of Americans are making under 75K a year?

Hi American Woman! Come on back here regularly. We have some really good liberal posters now. Yes, Im in CA. The fires are all around me but havent come to the desert yet (where I am). They have been moving towards the ocean instead (opposite direction). With a change of the wind, though, the fires could change direction, then they would come over the Sierra Nevada Mountains to get to the desert. About two years ago a fire came up over the mountains and you could see it from my house and the air was thick with smoke and soot. Was quite scary..but the firefighters were able to get it out. Yup, CA, the land of mudslides, wildfires, earthquakes, torrential rains (when it does rain..smile). So good to hear from ya..Come on back here. The board isnt the same without ya. :o).

I don't get it. This is his wife- supposedly the one he loves. Apparently doesn't respect!

85-Year-Old Seattle Woman Recruited By Marines - see article.

On lookout for insurgents, Marines yearn for home