POWERGRAMS

8 Fighting the war on terror in Iraq less than two years aer the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center aacks provided "interesting" moments for Haleyville Lead Operations Lineman Chris Coger. But the most intriguing for the Marine was dealing with his own emotions. "I went from being a nobody in rural town Alabama (Oakman in Walker County) to a hardened warrior on the balefields across the Middle East," he said. "No contact with family … the fog of war had set in my mind, and dying before the age of 21 was my reality. That's a lot of emotions to deal with for someone who never gave death a second thought until that period of life." Aer boot camp at famed Parris Island, South Carolina, Coger performed vehicle maintenance and transported people, supplies and equipment. He shipped off to Kuwait with the rank of lance corporal in January 2003 and once overseas started "pressing from the northern border of Kuwait through the palaces of Baghdad." During that first tour, Coger experienced his first firefight. "I was shooting a machine gun. The Iraqi locals had taken the war into their own hands and the people who were bothered with our arrival began to lower the boom on our heads." The shootout lasted 20 minutes. "Definitely the longest period of my life," Coger said. "At that time, my unit probably had not slept in five straight days. Immediately aer the fight, I fell asleep. It literally took the last strength out of me; or maybe I passed out." Coger's unit was back in the United States six months later in June 2003 but returned in April 2004. In between, back in the States, he was promoted to corporal in a somewhat light-hearted moment. "I surpassed all the Marines in my section who had been there years before me. That brought about hard times," he said with a laugh. His April 2004 to February 2005 deployment involved motor vehicle support for an artillery baery in Iraq. Coger became a noncommissioned officer in charge, in which an enlisted soldier has command authority. Once back home again, Coger realized advancement as a military occupational specialist would be slow, so he le active duty to join what was then a Marine anti-terrorism reserve unit in Bessemer from 2005 to 2009. He joined Alabama Power in 2006 as a helper at the Jasper Crew Headquarters. As a third- generation Marine, Coger's reason for enlisting was primarily to extend his family's long line of service to their country. His uncle, Milton Hall, fought in the Bale of Guadalcanal in the Pacific during World War II, then at Iwo Jima and later in Vietnam, earning two Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and other military honors. "It's always been my heart's desire to become a Marine," Coger said. "I think it was something the Lord put in my heart." Looking back, he's glad he served for other reasons. "I met some people. Made some brothers. Made some bonds that will never be broken. Everyone besides four people I le with came back." He also was able to travel extensively en route to assignments, and has visited Iran, Africa, Israel, Greece and Portugal. Coger said it was with the Marines he learned to be a man. "The things I was taught in the Marine Corps are invaluable: how to treat people; how to have compassion." By Gilbert Nicholson A FAMILY TRADITION Coger joined Marines, served two tours fighting terror in Iraq Coger training in Israel. Coger on the Red Sea nearing the Suez Canal. Coger's unit in Kuwait.

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