Voices from the Front

Major Margaret Miller Weitzel graduated from Carrollton High School in 1984 with a scholarship in classical voice at West Georgia College. Her course of study was interesting and she met talented musicians but after getting a job at the Maple Street Mansion she had a difficult time making early classes and was in jeopardy of losing her scholarship.

Major Margaret Weitzel joined the Marines in 1984 at the age of 18. She arrived in Iraq last month for a 13-month tour and wrote an article describing her mission there. She shared the story with Jeff Rooks, lecturer in business administration, and the campus community. The article was published in Newsweek this month.

One day she met a Marine Corps recruiter at the Mansion-very squared away and articulate-who told her what the Marine Corps could do for her.

“I didn’t pay too much attention to his offers at first,” Weitzel recalled. “But at this point I knew I needed to do something else. I wanted to go somewhere that challenged me physically and mentally and would force me to take a hard look at my goals and myself.

“I ran track for Carrollton HS and knew I could handle the physical demands and I was drawn to the promise of mental discipline. Back then, I was mentally and emotionally immature. Now, so many years later, I look out over this desert land of Central Iraq in the Al Anbar province, and my West Georgia days seem like a lifetime ago; like an oasis in my mind.”

Weitzel is serving the first month of a 13-month tour with the 1st Marine Logistics Group in Taqaddum, Iraq, which is located just west of Fallujah. Life there is a 15-hour workday and a mission to provide supplies to fellow soldiers.

The weather is dry and dusty and Weitzel said that sand is everywhere and calls it “her free microderm abrasion treatment” when she jogs.

“Just know that I am proud to serve the efforts here,” said Weitzel. “I will be so very glad to come back to my family and friends. You really never know what you have until you see what others don’t have. Enjoy your liberty and embrace its responsibilities.”
 

Beginning with this issue, the Campus Chronicle will present “Voices from the Front,” a feature that will highlight men and with connections to UWG that are serving overseas.