Injured Marine returns home
CFCRS volunteer Dustin Harmer hurt in Iraq war

By Kozbi Simmons

Marine Lance Cpl. Dustin Harmer gets a hug from his sister, Brittney Gatchell, Sunday while reflecting on his time in Iraq.

10:09 p.m. on April 18 will be remembered as one of the most important moments in life for one Rising Sun family.

It wasn't a birth or a death. No one got married. There was no graduation, nor a first day behind the wheel.

But that day, no matter how many major events follow, will never be forgotten.

It was a homecoming.

Dustin Harmer pulled up at the Perryville MARC train station to a crowd of family, friends and even a few strangers. The 22-year-old was coming home after two months in the Middle East -- one of them at war.

Though he was injured, Harmer and his family counted themselves lucky because he was alive.

Harmer, a Cecil County native who lives in Rising Sun and has been a member of the Community Fire Company for two years, joined the Marine Reserves at 17 with his mom's permission.

"I always wanted to join the Marines," he said. "Ever since I saw that commercial with the sword."

Then, he didn't know what he would eventually be facing, but he accepted the possible consequences. Five years later, Harmer found himself in the middle of them.

Harmer, an employee with the Maryland Transportation Authority when he's not on active duty, left for Kuwait in February. On March 21, he moved into Iraq. His unit -- responsible for fueling -- went in with the first Marines.

"I joined the Marines because they're the first ones in," he said.

After two weeks of fighting, Harmer's unit came under their third ambush in the middle of the night. He was on a fueling truck at the time.

As Harmer jumped down, he fell into a ditch. Running on adrenaline, he said, he kept fighting.

Harmer realized his ankle was hurt when the fighting ended. He left for a field hospital and found out it was dislocated with a few ligament tears.

Three hospitals later and Harmer was on his way home.

"That was the best thing he ever told me in my life," said his dad, David Gatchell. "It was fine with me, as long as there weren't bullet holes."

No words could explain Harmer's feelings when he pulled up to Perryville.

"It was a great feeling to step off the train and hear all the screaming for me," he said. "It feels so good to be home and be around the family, especially for Easter."

Harmer has a week before he has to fly to Camp Pendleton to eventually reunite with his unit. He's not sure what plans are in store, other than the three months doctors say it'll take to heal.

But, for this week at home, the minutes are priceless.

Like a dream

Harmer's return to American soil has been surreal.

"Every couple of minutes or so, it just hits me," he said, while sitting on the deck with family for Easter Sunday. "I just keep thinking I'm going to wake up from a dream."

His first welcome came from strangers aboard the train.

"Countless people are shaking my hand or kissing me on the cheek," he said.

Unknown well-wishers have given him cards, thank you's and even an American flag.

Harmer's first food: McDonald's.

"I had to smell the bag like three times," he said.

But with the luxuries, Harmer is feeling a little guilt. Knowing his unit is still over there, still away from family and good food is tough.

He has found a way to remain a part. By emailing his buddies' loved ones, he's passing on word that each of them are well.

"I still feel like I'm a part of them because I'm helping them by letting their families know they're OK," he said. "I can tell them, 'Hey, I saw them, they're fine.'"

The emails are invaluable. One mother heard from Harmer Sunday; she said it has made all the difference. That's something Harmer's mother relates to more than she likes.

"A lot of communication and keeping everyone up on where he was at, there's just a lot less worrying," Kathy Gatchell said. "She got word of her son through somebody that had been there with him - that's so good."

"The real picture"

Harmer said his unit became so close they were "unstoppable." They learned to deal with even the most annoying of frustrations (probably, the sand) together.

The men and women who were there will share something forever. They are the only ones who know the real picture, he said.

"There is no way to describe what happened over there," he said. "It was crazy. It was one of those things you just weren't prepared for."

But it also is something Harmer wouldn't hesitate to do again.

"I signed up knowing what the consequences were going to be," he said.

"We went over there to give another country the freedom we have here. And I would definitely go to another country to do that for them, too."

In the meantime, Harmer isn't thinking about all the "what ifs." He'll simply be OK when his unit returns. But he knows it won't be without changes. Just as he sees things differently, so will they.

Though some of those changes, he said, are not for the worse.

"I'm starting to take life a lot more seriously," Harmer said. "Once the ordeal was over, I felt like I learned to live day by day and to live life to the fullest."

Cecil Whig - April 21, 2003