Dad returns home from seeing Marine son in Iraq

By Michele Hester

Ben Mathes spent a week with his son 1st Lt. Adam Mathes as an embedded reporter in Adam’s Marine Company in Iraq. During a welcome home celebration Jan. 29 at Grace Presbyterian Church in downtown Dawsonville, Ben recalled his adventure.

The trip was long. The conditions were poor. The weather was cold. But for Ben Mathes, he could not have been blessed with a more enjoyable journey.

Mathes, a feature personality on KLOVE online radio, spent a week with his son’s Marine Company as an embedded reporter in Northern Iraq. Ben arrived home to Dawsonville just over a week ago safe and sound with a truly amazing story of his adventure.

He told the story during a “Welcome Home” party on Jan. 29 at Grace Presbyterian Church in downtown Dawsonville. Ben’s wife Mickie Mathes organized the celebration and began the evening with a harp prelude before she joined the Dawson Community Chorale as they performed a collection of patriotic ensembles to memorialize the event.

Then accomplished storyteller Ben took center stage to give his account of his time with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine, K Company in Iraq. The church grew quiet as Ben recalled the initial conversation he had with son 1st Lt. Adam Mathes, who as Ben tells the story, had a crazy idea that he join him in Iraq.

Ben had never considered the idea and was not very interested in going to Iraq. Still, at Adam’s request, he called his radio network and asked if he could go. The network agreed and got the ball rolling with the media command in Florida. “I told them I wanted to go be embedded with my kid, in my kid’s company,” Ben said. “Wherever they are.”

Adam’s company is stationed in Haditha along the Euphrates River where the roads that lead from Mosul and Syria meet. “All the bad guys come down those roads,” Ben said. And it was in Haditha where Ben got a first hand look at his son in action as the second in command of his company. “We are so proud of these Marine and the work they are doing here in Iraq.”
To commemorate his time with Adam and Company K, Ben and his traveling partner, Chris Price on Dunwoody, documented the excursion in a high definition DVD he plans to forward to the American news organizations.

The video records all aspects of day to day Marine life. From patrolling for insurgents through the dead of night guided by night vision lenses, to a briefing session which takes place before each mission and even finding a filled propane tank, used for car bombs, in the back seat of a deserted car, Ben said the Marines were always prepared and never let their guards down.

As serious as the situation in Haditha is, Ben said the Marine’s moral was above anything he has ever seen. In one scene during the filming, the Marines are preparing for a mission as the camera roles. The soldiers take their high powered rifles and break into song, simulating guitars with the rifles. They jokingly sing that they wished “there was some way out of here” but laugh at their camaraderie. “Moral is not a problem here,” Ben said.

Throughout the video, the soldiers signify their appreciation for American support with thanks. They thank America for supporting their work. They thank KLOVE radio for allowing Ben to see his son in Iraq enabling him to tell his story to other parents with children serving across the world who could live the experience through him.

And over and over again they thank the Dawson County Woman’s Club for the cakes and care packages they sent, which according to one soldier, inspires the Marines to do great things.

Originally published Feb. 1, 2006 by Dawson Community News, Dawsonville, Ga.