By Matthew Fleishman, Yardley News Editor


For Josh Mellor, enlisting in the Marines was simply something that he felt he needed to do.

Mellor, who was a rightfielder for the University of Pittsburgh when they made the Super Regional of the College World Series in 1995, enlisted in the Marines in September 1999, and saw action in both Africa and Iraq after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“I really felt there was something missing in my life,” said Mellor. “I always wanted to be a Marine. As a kid, I wanted to go to the Valley Forge Military Academy, but my mom said ‘no.’”

When Mellor enlisted, he was sent to Paris Island, S.C., for 12 weeks of training, and he graduated first in his class of more than 400 Marine recruits. From there, he was stationed at Camp Lejeune in the 2nd battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment.

Mellor was involved in work-ups, which are training missions, at Fort Bragg, preparing him for going on float for six to eight months in the Mediterranean Sea, when the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 occurred.

“We were out in the field and were told that an airplane struck the World Trade Center, so we immediately started thinking that we were preparing for some type of urban warfare,” said Mellor. “Then the gunnery sergeant said ‘this is not a drill, we’ve actually been hit.’”

Immediately, Mellor, and the fire team he was leading, got supplied and headed back to Camp Lejeune.

“At first we really thought it was a drill, but after we found out what actually happened, we headed back to Lejeune, and still even had on our face paint,” said Mellor.

After returning to Camp Lejeune, Mellor was supposed to head out on ship for the Mediterranean Sea, but his unit was called back. In February 2002, he did head out to sea, landing in Djibouti, where he encountered his first action of Operation Enduring Freedom.

“We were the first U.S. forces to land in Djibouti since the first Gulf War,” said Mellor, who was supposed to take part in off-ship training in the African nation. “During the training, the French told us that everything was clear, but that’s where we had our first firefight of the mission. We got lit up pretty good there. People don’t realize that al-Qaeda was fighting in Africa at the time.”
After six months on duty, Mellor’s battalion was sent back to Camp Lejeune, and the unit was supposed to be part of the East Coast Homeland Security Force, but as Mellor was about to go on leave in late February 2003, the phone rang.

Mellor, who was a sergeant at the time, was told by his superiors that he needed to call his men back from leave.

“I was all set, ready to go,” said Mellor. “It was at that point I knew something was up. I had to call all of the men back from leave. I had to call back a guy who hadn’t seen his father in 10 years.”

Mellor’s battalion was being sent to Kuwait, leaving on a C-4 jet, heading to Camp Commando in Kuwait, via Germany.

“There were mixed feelings in the camp, but I kept telling my guys that they didn’t spend millions of dollars bringing us here just to send us home,” said Mellor.

On March 20, 2003, Mellor had just sent his men to go eat when an Iraqi scud missile came over the mountain and landed in the camp. The men spent the next 10 to 12 hours in their chemical suits, and the next day, they went on patrol.

“We were originally supposed to set up and be security for a POW camp,” said Mellor. “Let’s just say that the number of Iraqis to surrender were not nearly what they expected.”

Mellor’s team was actually the group that went ahead, securing the road and site for the rest of the battalion.

Later, Mellor was part of the unit that took down the airport in Al-Kut, which also served as a terrorist training camp.

“We took down the airport in the biggest firefight we were involved in,” said Mellor. “It was also a terrorist training area, and instead of pictures of humans serving as targets, we found out they used the Star of David as a shooting target. It was a very disturbing sight to see.”

After occupying the airport, which was on the Euphrates River, Mellor and his men washed their faces with the shockingly cold river water.

“It was 110 to 115 degrees, and I remember putting my hands in the water and it seemed freezing cold,” said Mellor. “I splashed my face and it tingled for hours from the cold water, despite the temperature in the air. That has to be the strangest thing I have ever encountered.”

Through Mellor’s four years in the Marines, he encountered a lot, but he has a lasting bond with his fellow Marines, in the form of a gasket worn on the ring finger of his left hand.

“The bond between Marines is a true brotherhood,” said Mellor. “It’s almost a marriage to each other. We all wear a gasket, and some guys incorporate it into their wedding ring, and others move it over to their right hand, but we all still wear it to this day.”

As part of that brotherhood, Mellor always told his men to do whatever they needed to do to survive.

“I always told them, ‘It’s better to be tried by 12 than carried by six,’” said Mellor. “Gunnery Sgt. Bryan Zickefoose was the first to say that to me, and I always said that to my men. I told them ‘I refuse to write any letters to your mothers, so do what you have to do to survive.’”

Mellor was honorably discharged from active duty in September 2003, and now is a member of VFW Post 6393 in Lower Makefield Township.