2/8 heads to Afghanistan

Lance Cpl. Rory Hamill missed the birth of his daughter, Keira, by one day when he returned from Iraq.

Now he's missing her first birthday, also by a day.

Monday's deployment to Afghanistan was the day before Keira's first birthday, so his family brought a birthday cake to the deployment site of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, so he could join in on the celebration.

Hamill was one of 300 Marines and sailors with 2/8 to deploy Monday to conduct counter-insurgency operations with Afghan National Security Forces, where they will train, mentor and partner with Afghan security forces and local leaders to support the expansion of security and government, according to information from 2nd Marine Division Public Affairs.

The Marines and sailors will work to "get rid of the bad guys," Capt. Junwei Sun said.

"Everywhere the Marines sends us is nitty gritty; they don't send us to Palm Beach ... but the Marines are prepared," he said. "Once we get there it will be hot and heavy and when we get rid of the bad guys, we'll rebuild."

While 2/8 is hoping for a seven-month deployment, Sun said they will "duke it out with the Taliban" and stay "until the job is done."

Sun expects that all 1,000 members of 2/8 will be deployed to Afghanistan.

"There's a lot of changes going on in country," he said.

The deployment is the first for Pfc. John Weese.

"I am pumped. It's going to be awesome. It's going to be hard, but the hard ones are the good ones," Weese said. "We've got a hard mission. It's going to be rough."

Weese's mother, Sandy Weese, drove eight hours from Moorefield, W. Va. to see her son off.

"I'll be grateful when he is home safe and sound," she said. "It's never easy when your child is leaving."

Contact military reporter Amanda Hickey at 910-219-8461 or ahickey@freedomenc.com. Visit the Lejeune Deployed blog at http://lejeunedeployed.freedomblogging.com.