Broken Arrow Marines Prepare To Leave

Two dozen northeastern Oklahoma Marines answer the call to duty. Members of the anti-tank training company will head to Camp Pendleton next week for training, then on to Iraq.<br/> <br/>Their families

Saturday, June 3rd 2006, 6:14 pm

By: News On 6

Two dozen northeastern Oklahoma Marines answer the call to duty. Members of the anti-tank training company will head to Camp Pendleton next week for training, then on to Iraq.

Their families and friends met at the Reserve Center in Broken Arrow to say goodbye.

For Corporal David Dean, this is a chance to show his kids what daddy does. He lets 4 year old Kolby and 9 year old Hunter climb around the Humvee and pretend shoot the grenade launcher. It all takes a little pressure off the fact that soon he'll have to say good bye.

Kimberly Dean: "its really tough and emotional struggle."

Two dozen Marines are preparing to go to Iraq to support the 1st Battalion, 24th Marines. This is the unit's first deployment, but itâ€™s actually Dean's second tour of duty in Iraq. He's a veteran of the first Gulf War, who recently reenlisted after 13 years as a civilian.

Cpl David Dean: "cause I missed it and I got tired of watching these guys do all the work and I got tired of watching TV and watching these guys do all the work. And I knew I was still capable of doing it. I wanted to see if I could hang with all of these young guys."

But three kids can change a Marine.

Cpl David Dean: "this is a lot harder because now I'm married and I have kids. And before it was just me, yeah, this is hard."

The Marines will head to Camp Pendleton in California on Wednesday. They'll train there for about two months, and then they'll head to Iraq for up to a year.

Kimberly Dean says her kids are very proud of their dad. And even four year old Kolby wants to grow up to be a marine just like him. But they're still having a tough time, especially the little one.

Kimberly Dean: "he doesnâ€™t understand and to him itâ€™s like ripping his little heart out."

Corporal David Dean is a Miami, Oklahoma Police officer. His wife Kimberly says she's used to him being in the line of fire. But Iraq is different, because she won't be able to check in with him every night.