A closer look: Situation in the Gulf has deep impact on UCLA community

She doesn’t know where her brother is; she won’t see
him until April next year, but she nevertheless supports him like a
loving sister.

First-year biochemistry student Therese Cresalia is just one of
many UCLA students who has family and friends who are serving their
country thousands of miles away.

Though the war is long over, the number of soldiers and
casualties in the Persian Gulf is still on the rise.

“My mom was tripping out because more people have been
killed after the war than during the war,” Cresalia
said. 

According to press reports, the number of American soldiers
killed in action over the past week totaled 34, including the
deaths of two soldiers on Monday in Baghdad.

But these numbers do not faze Cresalia, who says she feels lucky
that her brother, Joseph Cresalia, 20, was safe during his
deployment.

Last week, he e-mailed the family to say he was in a
non-threatening situation in Iraq when he was there in the past
month. 

He has now moved to another area in the Persian Gulf, which he
could not specify, Cresalia said.

Joseph applied to join the Marines three weeks before the Sept.
11, 2001 hijackings, and began his formal boot camp training in
February of 2002, originally without his parents’
knowledge.

“My parents were completely pissed off that he
didn’t tell them,” Cresalia said. “But after
a few arguments, they became supportive of him and the experience
he will gain.”

Out of the nine children in the Cresalia family, Joseph was the
only one who wanted to join the Marine Corps. He plans to finish up
his four years of service and continue his education, Cresalia
said.

But the journey has not always been a smooth one. After
finishing his boot camp training in May 2002, Joseph had to undergo
a wrist surgery, which prevented him from going to Iraq during the
war. 

Joseph missed much of the heavy fighting because of his injury.
He was shipped out from San Diego on Aug. 26.

Although the Cresalia family has not seen Joseph since then,
their fears are calmed when he contacts the family through the
phone or e-mail.

He calls approximately once a month for about three minutes each
time. He also sends e-mails from different places around the world,
including Hawaii, Singapore, the Philippines and Australia,
Cresalia said. 

The family members, in turn, e-mail, write and send packages to
the ship as often as they can. 

“My mom sends huge packages of 300 or so cookies, so he
can share with his fellow Marines, who say the cookies are really
good,” Cresalia said.

Cresalia herself sends her brother letters and photos just to
update him about what is happening during her first year at
UCLA.

Other Bruins, including alumni formerly involved in the Reserve
Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), are currently a part of the
operations in Iraq.

A number of graduates have been deployed overseas as officers in
various branches of the Army.

Lt. Carrie Bruhl, who graduated in 1999, was part of an
operation in March that went awry when two U.S. Army Apache Longbow
helicopters were downed. Bruhl was the copilot of one of the
helicopters; she, fortunately, escaped the incident unscathed.

Army cadets presently in the ROTC program monitor and admire
their upperclassmen, according to Maj. Michael Berry, an assistant
professor of military science in UCLA’s Army ROTC
Program.

Students and ROTC faculty periodically receive e-mails from
alumni overseas.

“I want my children and grandchildren to live in a safer
place, and I strongly believe in the U.S. mission,” wrote Lt.
Dan Medal, also an alumnus and a member of the Third Armored
Cavalry Regiment, Fourth Squadron, who was deployed in late
March.

Lt. Melvin Jeter, a 2001 graduate, parachuted into the northern
front of Iraq in one of the first operations carried out in that
part of the country.

“We have extremely talented, very sharp UCLA students who
are doing superbly,” Berry said, referring to past graduates
currently involved in U.S. missions in Iraq.