Letters from the front

Wantage — Twin brothers Adam and Aaron Voelker have been in Afghanistan since the winter, serving separately with two different companies of Marines about a mile apart in the town of Marjah. While they’ve been unable to communicate with one another, they have contacted their mother, Sheila Voelker, back home in Wantage, letting her know they’re OK and giving her a glimpse into what it’s like on the front lines. Prefaced with the phrase: “Don’t freak out,” the following are excerpts from letters Adam sent home after the incidents. When necessary, we have inserted in parentheses offering explanations of what Pfc Voelker meant in his original text. Readers should know that both Adam and Aaron are still in Afghanistan, but expect to be home on a leave in July and August. Dear Mom, ...We landed in a muddy field. We waited for all the birds (planes) to land as I laid in the mud. As the sun came up the loudspeakers from the mosque started to play. It was really eerie. The anti-air guns started to shoot in the air and there was explosions I couldn’t put a finger on behind us. When the sun came up I started to see houses or mud huts. We moved from the field into another when a squad started taking effective fire and was pinned down in the field from AK 47 and machine gun fire. Mortar rounds started landing in the field. It was close. I ran to the nearest cover which was a berm on the edge of the field. We were taking fire from every direction. My machine gun team and I quickly ran down the field and took a small compound that would protect us for the most part. The fight lasted about 14 hours. By nightfall we had taken five casualties, one being KIA (killed in action). Our doc took shrapnel from a RPG (rocket propelled grenade). By the second day we took over a larger compound...We put up posts on the rooftops. We were pinned down in the compound. Enemy snipers were hitting our Marines on the roofs. I watched one of our Marines take a round right below his collar bone. Later that day I was on the far south end of the compound when we heard talking outside the compound walls. A suicide bomber tried to break the compound walls but we caught it just in time to throw grenades. This was followed by RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) just barely landing in the compound. One of the three grenades we threw landed in a pile of propane tanks igniting them, causing a huge fire. We all thought they were going to explode as we ran to the north part of the compound to take cover. We had no where else to go. The Taliban were trying to overrun us. The third day an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) landed in our compound about 5 feet from where I was. For some reason it didn’t go off. It would have been a bad day for all of us. Also in this compound we found a bag full of money and things to make IED’s (improvised explosive devices) out of. After about three days we finally could push out of the compound and gain ground on the Taliban...Every day we took contact from small arms, RPG’s and snipers...and cleared a bazaar... The next day we held our position in the bazaar...Later in the day the Taliban had floated a yellow jug down the river filled with a high explosive. The wadi — river —was close to our position. Once it floated down close enough to us they blew it up. Thankfully no one was hurt. After getting heavy pressure from the Taliban we were way behind schedule... We pushed the Taliban about 6 clicks in one day. I have to say some of those rounds came closer to me than I would have liked. Pushing east we found $10 million worth of heroin, a good find, in one of the compounds. We also found a M-1 and a shotgun. Yesterday night we went on a patrol by an intersection where the Taliban have been setting in IED’s. We snuck up on 3 individuals in a field diggin. We surrounded them and approached them. I guess they were just farming yet who farms in the middle of the night. ...In the next day or two my team is going to go out with snipers to see if we can catch these guys in the act. The sad thing is the local that told us about the IED’s might be killed by the Taliban if we don’t get these guys. ...After 11 days of heavy fighting we are gaining ground. We pretty much have all of Marjah. Now is just the part where we have to keep them out and find the ones in hiding. The fighting isn’t over with but the hard part I have to say is over with. The local people are starting to come back which is a good sign. Editor’s note: Sheila Voelker is an employee of Straus News.

...As we walked back from patrol I gave one of the local kids a piece of gum. He smiled ear to ear. It’s kinda cool to interact with the people. Their way of life is very different.”

How to reach them
PFC Voelker Adam
1/6 Bravo Co 73135
SPO AE 09372-3135
LCPL Voelker Aaron
3/6 Wpns Co 73310
FBO AE 09510-3310