On Sunday, Rustburg native Darlene Palmer snapped a photograph of her son Ethan Coleman, 19, as he slipped a pocket-sized Bible into the left breast pocket of his Marine uniform.
The Bible was tattered and dry-rotted, shielded in a plastic bag. It went to war with six of Coleman’s family members in five wars — World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq. Each man who carried it came home safely.
That night, Coleman left for Afghanistan.
Palmer didn’t say goodbye. She said, “See you later.”
Coleman is an infantry mortar man with the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines Weapons Company. He will be on the front lines of the surge of 30,000 troops announced last month by President Barack Obama.
During training, Coleman talked to fellow Marines who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, trying to learn what to expect. One thing, they said, weighs more heavily on his mind than anything else: the fear of the unknown.
“I’ve heard that’s what can eat you alive,” Coleman said in late December.
In the weeks leading up to his deployment, Coleman spent time with his family and prepared for the war — logistically and mentally.
“I’m excited but kind of nervous at the same time,” he said. “This is going to be a new experience for me. I haven’t been through anything like it yet, but I’m definitely ready for it.”
After Christmas, he was baptized at New Chapel Baptist Church in Rustburg.
“That was a beautiful service,” Palmer said. “It was very, very emotional for everyone at that church.”
As a mother of three Marines — two sons and a stepson — the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are personal for Palmer. Prayer and church have carried her through the uncertainty, she said.
“It was very difficult for me, but it was easier for me knowing that was what he wanted and that he was prepared and that he was ready to go and do his job.”
For Coleman, serving in the Marines stems from a sense of duty to his country.
“It’s just following in the footsteps of my family … Now it’s my turn to take charge and do what I’ve gotta do.”
The departure was difficult for Palmer. She and her husband, Frank Palmer, drove to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina to say goodbye. On the way back to Rustburg, she cried on and off for hours.
“I am comforted that he’s ready but it’s gonna be a huge party when that boy comes home,” she said.
On Wednesday, Palmer received a phone call from Coleman, who was overseas and en route to Afghanistan. He was tired and jetlagged, but in good spirits.
She asked him where his Bible was. He said, “You know where it’s at.”
His left breast pocket.
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