The Daily News:
After Hurricane Katrina ripped through Kathleen Faircloth's home, the single woman in Mobile, Ala., desperately needed help.
So in came the Marines.
Faircloth happened to be the mother of Lance Cpl. Bradley Faircloth, a Marine with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines who died in November 2004 during the battle for Fallujah.
Faircloth had stayed in touch with many of the guys from her son's unit - 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, 1/8 - and when those Marines heard about the extensive damage Faircloth's home had suffered, they wanted to help the mother of their fallen comrade.
"I thought what a golden opportunity for us to do what we in 1/8 believe in: taking care of our own," said Maj. Lewis D. Vogler Jr., the battalion's executive officer. "I told those guys, 'If I can find us a way, we'll do it.' "
At the time, parts of Camp Lejeune's 1/8 were in Slidell, La., outside of New Orleans, aiding the post-Katrina relief effort. There was little chance of getting Faircloth the help she needed. All the choppers were booked.
But Vogler, who was working in the town's emergency operation centers, told one of the city employees the story of Faircloth and his mother.
"He says, 'Major, I just may have a way to get your Marines to Mobile," Vogler recalled.
A Slidell resident named Jan Stumpf volunteered to let the Marines use her private Gulfstream-Lear jet. Vogler took the matter to Lt. Col. J. Scott Alley, the battalion commander.
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The mission parameters were simple: Go in hard, fix Faircloth's home and get out - all in 36 hours.
That's exactly what they did. Sgt. Billy Leo, one of the Marines who went to Faircloth's home, said they landscaped, they shingled and made all the repairs in the allotted time.
They also got the chance to put a mother's mind at ease. Vogler said Faircloth asked the Marines, many of whom were there on her son's last day, to tell her how he died.
"I think mainly she just wanted to talk to us," Leo said.
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