Echo Company commander Franklin R. Babauta assured families of the soldiers under him that the lives and well-being of him men are of paramount importance to him and that they are being trained to acquit themselves well when they finally deploy to Iraq.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring this uncertain time, my soldier\u2019s lives and their well-being are of utmost importance. Let me re-assure you that we are trained and prepared to execute any mission the president may ask of us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Babauta, other members of Company E, and other active military personnel are currently on island, enjoying a brief holiday stay.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have committed ourselves in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, a job that is demanding not just only of mind and body but of heart and spirit as well,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we complete our training, we will not walk away to take our place behind a desk or behind a service counter. We will step up and out to take our place as American citizens and in the front lines of danger, a job that is hard, but a job that is necessary, nonetheless.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAmong our responsibilities, we will put our lives on the line to serve, protect and defend the United States Constitution,\u201d Babauta added.<\/p>\n
He said that being a soldier is not a job that one may take up and put down at leisure but is a calling that some may not understand. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we are \u2018in the box\u2019 many times we will be tempted to quit when we find ourselves hard pressed against the walls of our own mental and physical limitations\u201d but with continued support, the troops will remain firm in accomplishing their mission.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will scale those walls and move on to the next challenge,\u201d he said. \u201cThis after all is the life of a soldier, a life of beating barriers and going through obstacles to get the mission done no matter how difficult the going may be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Babauta expressed appreciation on behalf of Commanding General, Brig. Gen. John Ma, Battalion Commander LTC Alan Ostermiller, the troops, and their families.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is deeply touching to see our entire community pull together for a common cause,\u201d he said. \u201cI am grateful for the opportunity to take charge and serve with your sons, brothers, and fathers as we fulfill our obligations as American citizens.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is my honor to give special thanks to our families, for their untiring patience, understanding and commitment they have given us throughout our military service. We are grateful for the support and sacrifices you have made. During our trials and tribulations, you have been there for us. Truly, you are our heroes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Echo Company commander Franklin R. Babauta assured families of the soldiers under him that the lives and well-being of him men are of paramount importance to him and that they are being trained to acquit themselves well when they finally deploy to Iraq.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86675\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}