Princeton University Athletics
Semper Fi
April 15, 2005 | Men's Lacrosse
April 15, 2005
The land of the free. The home of the brave.
You hear these words so often; they lose their meaning. You take them for granted. The song's over; now the game can start.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave; o'er the land of the free. And the home of the brave?
Did you ever really stop to think what about these words, let them sink in?
The land of the free. That consists of you and me and him and her and the people you love and the people who annoy you and the people who voted for your guy and the people who voted for the other guy and everybody else in between.
The home of the brave. That's John O'Brien, and everyone else at his workplace these days.
John O'Brien, Harvard Class of 2003, used to be a shortstick defensive middie for the Crimson lacrosse team. Today he is a United States Marine Corps Second Lieutenant. Third platoon. Kilo Company. Third battalion. Fourth Marine Corps Division.
Stationed in Falujah, Iraq. It gets very hot there.
Jim O'Brien, Princeton Class of 2006, is his younger brother. Jim O'Brien is No. 16 for the Princeton men's lacrosse team.
"Before every game, during the national anthem, I think of my brother," Jim O'Brien says. "I want to compete and go as hard as I can, but I know there are a lot of people doing more serious things and more dangerous things than playing lacrosse games."
The war in Iraq might only enter most houses as part of the news, but it's certainly for real in the Port Washington, N.Y., home of the O'Brien family.
John O'Brien, all of 23 years of age, is in charge of a platoon of 40 or so Marines, all of whom are in the 18-22 year old range. Because their access to the world outside of Iraq is so limited, the Princeton men's lacrosse team has begun something of an exchange program with the platoon. Each Princeton player has been assigned a member of the platoon to serve as a pen pal. Through an internet program, Princeton players e-mail the Marines, who have little access to computers. Instead, the e-mails are printed out on the other end and hand-delivered to the Marines.
"Many of the Marines don't get a lot of contact from other people," Jim O'Brien says. "My brother says that marines mostly get letters from kids telling them they hope they don't die. The guys on our team really like to send the e-mails, and the Marines appreciate what we're doing. We just tell them about every day stuff, like major league baseball or the NCAA tournament. Just getting mail really makes their day, makes their week."
John O'Brien decided his junior year that he had interest in the military, and he went to Officers Training School after graduation. After being commissioned a second lieutenant, he went through two other Marine Corps courses, eventually becoming an infantry officer.
"Through what I know about the family, it's not surprising that an O'Brien family member would do something so selfless as to take your Harvard education and join the Marines and serve your country," says Princeton coach Bill Tierney. "The O'Briens are tremendous people who understand what's important in life. It's a pretty amazing family."
O'Brien was originally stationed in the California desert, but he was deployed to Iraq in January. Most of his Marines are in their second tour in Iraq.
"It's not the common career path coming from an Ivy League school," Jim O'Brien says. "He says that he's been given such privilege and opportunity his entire life that he had to give something back."
Falujah, of course, has been one of the most dangerous spots for American Marines during the way, though the situation there has become much more stabilized. Still, the danger is there at all times.
"It's a little better than it was," Jim O'Brien says. "From what he's heard, it's been pretty safe, though it's still very dangerous. It's good to hear from him when I can, but that's not often. It's been hardest on my mother. My father was in the Marines, and he understands why my brother is doing the job he's doing."
Even so far from the relatively small world of lacrosse, John O'Brien is still in touch with the game. Susan Tucker, Princeton's videographer, recently sent off her first package of lacrosse videos to John O'Brien, including Princeton games, other college games and even high school games.
The lacrosse games are a welcome diversion from the reality of the war. Tours on average run seven months, and as a Marine Corps lieutenant, John O'Brien is kept pretty busy.
"He's written me some letters," says his brother. "He talks about some of the things he's done, raids he's been on. It's funny. Guys from Ivy League schools go to Wall Street and get jobs and talk about their responsibility. My brother is 23, maybe. At certain times, he is orchestrating troops, artillery, support, everything for 100 men, and it's all under his control. Everything that is being planned and carried out is going through him."
And how does he handle it?
"He says it beats working 9 to 5. His day changes every day. This year has been a struggle for us, but what he's going through, that puts everything in perspective."
Next time you hear that song, you can pause a minute and think of the words. And of people like John O'Brien, the ones who are "the brave" so that the rest of us can be the "the free."