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The News-Press, FL
Sept 11 2011
Marine got home, but costs not fair
Written by
Sam Cook
U.S. Marine Cpl. Markus Green works 6,678 miles from his Cape Coral home.
Mapper Rand McNally would be hard-pressed to locate the 2008 Mariner
High graduate.
Green, 21, guards the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, Armenia.
Getting to Yerevan wasn't a problem. The State Department paid his way.
Returning home Wednesday for two weeks was an expensive round-trip
ticket the State Department doesn't cover.
Green paid the $1,687 fare with his credit card.
"We haven't seen him in nine months,'' says mother Buffy Lipscomb.
"People don't understand the fare comes out of his pocket.''
You can't put a price on missing home and family.
Green was deployed to Armenia in April - the first stop of a
three-year stint at three embassies.
"Markus' dream job was to be an embassy guard,'' says father Kevin
Lipscomb. "His goal is to protect the president.''
Green told his parents when he accompanied Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton to Lithuania, he knew protecting our dignitaries was his job
for life.
Getting discounted flights is not a problem for a Marine in uniform in
the United States.
"Airlines would take off $30-$40,'' says his mother.
But Marines don't get rich in Armenia. It will take Green three
paychecks to recover his plane fare.
Green, a senior wrestling team captain at Mariner, found a perfect
advocate when former
Marine John "GiddyUp'' Bunch stepped into the fundraising fray.
"This really has me in a foul mood,'' says Bunch, founder of Operation
Open Arms, a local nonprofit that assists veterans and soldiers in
need.
"Our Marines guard our ambassadors and their staffs, but the State
Department will not pay for them to come home on their leave?''
How foul is his mood?
"I'll sell my United States Marine Corps officer's sword to raise this
money,'' Bunch says.
He's received $200 from the Marine Corps League of Naples.
Bunch says his sword, which is in mint condition, should fetch at least $800.
Selling his saber is a magnanimous gesture, but we can't leave the
fishing boat captain defenseless against Pine Island pirates.
Besides, when a young Marine comes home, he needs spending money.
If you want to enhance Green's homecoming, send a donation to Bunch.
http://www.news-press.com/article/20110911/COLUMNISTS02/109110396/Sam-Cook-Marine-got-home-costs-not-fair?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CHome
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Sept 11 2011
Marine got home, but costs not fair
Written by
Sam Cook
U.S. Marine Cpl. Markus Green works 6,678 miles from his Cape Coral home.
Mapper Rand McNally would be hard-pressed to locate the 2008 Mariner
High graduate.
Green, 21, guards the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, Armenia.
Getting to Yerevan wasn't a problem. The State Department paid his way.
Returning home Wednesday for two weeks was an expensive round-trip
ticket the State Department doesn't cover.
Green paid the $1,687 fare with his credit card.
"We haven't seen him in nine months,'' says mother Buffy Lipscomb.
"People don't understand the fare comes out of his pocket.''
You can't put a price on missing home and family.
Green was deployed to Armenia in April - the first stop of a
three-year stint at three embassies.
"Markus' dream job was to be an embassy guard,'' says father Kevin
Lipscomb. "His goal is to protect the president.''
Green told his parents when he accompanied Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton to Lithuania, he knew protecting our dignitaries was his job
for life.
Getting discounted flights is not a problem for a Marine in uniform in
the United States.
"Airlines would take off $30-$40,'' says his mother.
But Marines don't get rich in Armenia. It will take Green three
paychecks to recover his plane fare.
Green, a senior wrestling team captain at Mariner, found a perfect
advocate when former
Marine John "GiddyUp'' Bunch stepped into the fundraising fray.
"This really has me in a foul mood,'' says Bunch, founder of Operation
Open Arms, a local nonprofit that assists veterans and soldiers in
need.
"Our Marines guard our ambassadors and their staffs, but the State
Department will not pay for them to come home on their leave?''
How foul is his mood?
"I'll sell my United States Marine Corps officer's sword to raise this
money,'' Bunch says.
He's received $200 from the Marine Corps League of Naples.
Bunch says his sword, which is in mint condition, should fetch at least $800.
Selling his saber is a magnanimous gesture, but we can't leave the
fishing boat captain defenseless against Pine Island pirates.
Besides, when a young Marine comes home, he needs spending money.
If you want to enhance Green's homecoming, send a donation to Bunch.
http://www.news-press.com/article/20110911/COLUMNISTS02/109110396/Sam-Cook-Marine-got-home-costs-not-fair?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CHome
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress