Thirty minutes before U.S. Navy Lt. Mark Escoe was to go through his promotion ceremony moving him to the rank of commander, he received a call from the American Red Cross to let him know his father had perished in a house fire in Sherman. He was on his base in Pennsylvania.
Escoe has seen others get this type of devastating news while on active duty and away from home, and in fact, he’s been through it before when his grandmother died, but that didn’t lessen the pain. While in Sherman for his father’s funeral, Escoe took a few moments to share some of his experiences throughout his naval career.
He said the military men and women serving this country must be prepared to experience life’s separations, such as the death of a loved one, from great distances. He explained that the Department of Defense always tries to send people home in cases of serious illness or death if operations allow. Sometimes, it’s just not possible which was the situation in the case of his grandmother’s passing.
“I was close to deployment on the USS Lake Champlain on the 12th of September, right after the 911 attack,” Escoe said. “While it was under way — we were loaded out with weapons — that’s when I got the notice my grandmother passed. Professionally, I just couldn’t leave the ship then.”
Escoe explained further, there is a very literal meaning to the phrase, military family. “We really get our arms around each other during these times. We spend a lot of time to help out those folks who’re hurting.”
Escoe, who will leave for Baghdad in June for his second tour of duty there, said he is proud of having served on the USS Lake Champlain (CG 57), a Ticonderoga class Navy cruiser. In fact, he’s proud of his service in the military and attributes his desire to serve his country in this way to his father’s influence.
“He (Creig Escoe) was a lieutenant when he resigned after serving four years,” Escoe said of his father. “He was never in Vietnam but it was the Vietnam era. He instilled (the desire for) service (in me) at an early age.” So, when Escoe heard the famous inaugural speech by President Kennedy, he was able to identify with and take to heart Kennedy’s famous phrase, “ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country,”
Escoe said he entered the Navy at age 20 in 1984, and by the passing of two years, he knew it would be a career. “I remember being upset soon after I joined and called my dad complaining about how I didn’t like it and what came back to me from him was the voice of a position of authority telling me to calm down and focus and get back to the duties,” he said. “Dad and I always had great conversations since then and he lived vicariously through me and was excited at my promotion to commander. It was the hardest thing for me to not be able to call him after the ceremony to tell him about it.”
Escoe also shared his thoughts, stressing it is only his opinion, about what is going on in Iraq. He said he has faith in the American governing system so he’s not concerned about who makes it to the White House in the upcoming election. When he leaves in June, he’ll be going to the Multinational Security Transition Command in Baghdad. He said he’ll be training the Iraqis for planning and logistics for 365 days, but if his deployment gets extended, he’ll be OK with that.
“I think the cause is good and I support the cause,” Escoe said. “It’s my impression they (Iraqi people) were happy for us to be there protecting them. They now have democracy — not the same as what we have, but a democracy — and that’s a huge step forward for them. The troops who are there are winning the hearts and minds of the people there.”
The commander added that he believes it’s necessary the troops are over there. “This is our job,” he said. “It’s difficult on us when we have back-to-back tours, especially the Army and Marines, but we are serving our cause. This is what we train for.”
Escoe continued, saying, “There is always a chance we won’t come back but that is the same with fire and police every day. We try to prepare our families the same way.” He also expressed support for President Bush. He said there is no text book for him to follow for what the President is dealing with. “He has been very good at making decisions and standing by them,” he said.
“I don’t think, by any means, this is a lost cause,” he said. “It seems to be difficult for people back home to see the goodness that is going on. I think, if we leave now, we will have left the business undone. Iraqi people depend on the troops to educate and train them and they are doing a terrific job of learning. If we leave too early, the job won’t be complete and that will be the American legacy.
“If we pull out too early, who will ever trust us again? Evil has come and gone through the history of mankind, but over all, the good wins out.”
As Escoe prepared for his father’s funeral, wearing his dress blues and military medals, he wondered about his ability to maintain composure as he would be talking about his dad during the funeral. He reminisced about being a youngster with his sister, Barbie. “My dad was a great story teller and we loved listening to the recounts of what he did as a kid,” he said. “My dad was funny. He has a few quirks, like anyone else, but we were a family.”
The commander compared his relationship with his father as one of shipmates. “You can go six months or 10 years and pick up the phone and act like you just saw each other,” he said. “That is the way my dad and I have been. When you spend a life in the Navy like I have, that’s normal.”
He said, there is a blessing in all of this because he knows where his father is. “He was a devout Christian,” Escoe said. “He taught me much of my faith. I know in my heart of hearts he is with the Lord and I am at peace with it.”
