William J. De Young
| Date of Birth | Dec 1 1984 |
| Date Entered | July 21 2003 |
| Date Discharged | N/A |
| Years Served | N/A |
| Reserve Guard Dates | |
| Highest Rank | Lcpl |
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Unit Operations |
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Operation Iraqi Freedom II |
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Awards/Badges |
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Purple Heart |
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Most Memorable Moment |
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My most memorable moment while serving in OIF II is hard to pick out, but the one that stands out the most would be caving at bypass page. While providing route security for MSR Bronze, MSR Uranium, and Bypass Page that connected the two Main Supply Routes together. In order to view all of these areas, our squad set in on top of a large hill that provided a vantage point from where we could see all three. Naturally when a marine sits around all day he gets bored and begins to look for things to occupy his mind. While looking around, we noticed a fairly large cave really close to our position. One day the curiosity got the best of us, and 4 Marines went caving. At first I went in alone and discovered a large cavern immediately inside. The next day I told a few of my friends and we all explored it together. Equipped with Bayonets, flashlights, night vision goggle's and a camera we set off to "look" for any weapons that might have been stored in the cave. We spent all of our rest time between our turns on watch exploring the cave. Eventually it got to narrow to continue around 200 meters into the cave, and we had to turn around, being assaulted by thousands of bats the entire time. One marine had one land in his hair and another accidentally flew in a different marines mouth. In all I would definitely say that was the most fun I had in Iraq, Even over going to Baghdad and swimming in Saddam Hussein's swimming pool at his presidential palace. Although I must admit it was nice to live "in royalty" with the army style food served for the Higher-ups living there at the Palace ( the Palace is the American embassy). |
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Career After USMC |
I plan on pursing an education directed at Architecture or mission work once I leave the Marines. |
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Current Affiliations |
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Family Information |
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I was born in Zeeland, MI. My parents, Wayne and Deb De Young both work for my
grandmothers truck company, De Young's Industrial Disposal. I am the oldest
grandchild on both sides and have 2 brothers, Tom - 1.5 yrs younger, and Joey -
7 yrs younger, and 1 sister - Darci - 5 yrs younger, and pretty soon I will
propose to Rachel Maguire, also of the Zeeland, Mi Area. She is 1 day older than
me and was actually born in the same hospital as me... Life sure is crazy huh?
We are going to get married July 2, 2006 in our home town and I can't wait! |
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Hobbies |
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I love snowboarding, reading, computers and hiking.. especially in national parks. |
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Degrees/Schools |
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High school Diploma from Holland Christian High School |
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Current Address |
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William De Young |