GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, and their families shared a few moments together yesterday as the members of an advance force prepared to leave Kaneohe for Afghanistan.

Kaneohe Marines begin
mission to Afghanistan

Families say farewell as
an advance party leaves
on a sudden seven-month tour

CORRECTION Wednesday, November 3, 2004 » Tamara Muller, the wife of Marine Gunnery Sgt. Stephen Muller, had worked at Kaneohe Elementary School. A Page A1 article Monday incorrectly reported that she had worked at Kailua Intermediate School. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.

Nearly 1,000 Kaneohe Marines will be part of the ground security force in central and eastern regions of Afghanistan in two weeks.

Yesterday, an advance party of 80 Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment -- known as "America's Battalion" -- left Kaneohe Bay for what they hope will be only seven months.

"I am going to miss him, but I think it's cool he's in the Marines and fighting for our country." --Mariah Muller Daughter of Kaneohe Marine gunnery sergeant

But Lt. Col. Norm Cooling, 3rd Battalion commander, added: "We're prepared to go longer if it comes to fruition. However, I don't think that will happen."

Cooling said his unit will be covering "a very large area of responsibility" and that the Kaneohe Marines will be relieving the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, which has been assigned to Combined Task Force Thunder and will be returning to its home base at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

Gunnery Sgt. Stephen Muller will be on his first combat deployment since joining the Marine Corps 14 years ago.

The seven-month deployment will mean he will miss three ballet recitals of his 12-year-old daughter, Mariah, and several cheer-leading competition events for another daughter, Lindsey, 11.

His wife, Tamara, decided to celebrate Christmas early this year and bought the family two digital cameras to help stay in touch.

"We'll send him photos by e-mail and short video clips of the recitals and cheer-leading competitions he will miss," she said.

Tamara decided to forgo another year of teaching remedial reading at Kailua Intermediate School this semester when she found out her husband was going to Afghanistan. "I decided to take the year off," she said, "so I can be available for my girls."

"I am going to miss him," daughter Mariah said, "but I think it's cool he's in the Marines and fighting for our country."

Both her father and mother tried to choke back the tears as she added, "I just want to say good luck and we're waiting for him."

For Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Yantosca and his wife, Cynthia, the deployment means they will miss celebrating their 13th wedding anniversary on Dec. 19. So, the couple went out and bought a diamond ring before he left yesterday afternoon. "This is to replace a diamond I lost on my wedding band when we were moving to Hawaii," said Cynthia Yantosca.

The couple had just begun getting settled in when her husband was told that his unit would be going to Afghanistan.

"This is not a scheduled deployment," Cynthia Yantosca added. "This is not routine. ... We had just unpacked and we found out he was leaving."

The rest of the unit will leave within two weeks.

Earlier this month, nearly 1,000 members of Kaneohe's 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, entered Iraq as the ground combat support element of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. They will be in western Iraq, patrolling the areas of Fallujah and Ramadi west of Baghdad for seven months.

On Oct. 24 the 1st Battalion reported its first casualty in Iraq when Lance Cpl. Richard P. Slocum, 19, of Saugus, Calif., was killed near Abu Ghraib in a Humvee accident.

Cooling said his Kaneohe Marines will be one of the major ground security force elements of Combined Joint Task Force-76, which is commanded by Maj. Gen. Eric Olson, head of the 25th Infantry Division, at Bagram Air Field. Olson assumed command on April 15.