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Wounded Marine returns to Rogue Valley By PAUL FATTIG,Mail Tribune Apr 19, 2003 12:00 AM A A Cpl. Patrick Irish says he's proud of what he and his fellow G.I.s have accomplished in the war in Iraq Wounded Marine Corps Cpl. Patrick Irish arrived at the Medford airport Friday to a hero's welcome. Family, friends and strangers cheered. Many shed tears of joy and waved their flags. You are outstanding, announced the young Marine from Grants Pass, causing another eruption of cheering. A 1998 graduate of Hidden Valley High School, Irish, 23, had just greeted his parents, David and Barbara Irish, and brother Matthew, all of Grants Pass, in a private moment on the tarmac. — Hit April — by a round from an AK-47 rifle which shattered his left clavicle, the Marine is home on a 30-day medical leave. Decked out in his dress blue uniform with shoes shining like mirrors, Irish stood in front of a podium to meet the press and well-wishers. Marching across his left chest were four medals, including the Purple Heart. It feels weird, he said of his newfound fame. (In Portland) this gentleman in a wheelchair came up and saluted me. That almost brought me to tears. But Irish fielded questions like a veteran during the press conference. He had looked forward to going into Iraq, he said. Not because I was looking forward to harming other people but looking forward to doing something you train to do your entire career, he said. Being able to help liberate Iraq from such a tyrannous man is a great feeling, he added. He felt the Iraqi people were largely supportive of the effort by the American and British troops. We had Iraqi women trying to offer us food, he said. They were outstanding people. They were very sweet, very humble. Would he do it again? In a heartbeat, he replied. What's the first thing he plans to do upon returning home? Eat a bowl of chili, he said, later adding, She (mom) makes the best chili on the West Coast. What's the best thing about being home? Seeing the family ' they've been outstanding, so supportive, keeping in contact with my fiancee and me, he said. I could never ask for a better family. Ever. The feeling was obviously mutual. I couldn't be more proud of him, his mother said. Being able to hold her youngest son that day made it all real that he was OK and home at last, she said. Unfortunately, there are a lot that aren't, a lot that are still over there, she added. We thank God he's here. Later, she added, He's still my baby boy. We have two great sons and a great daughter, said his father, a former Marine who retired as a master sergeant. Our son Matthew has been very supportive being the family spokesperson. But having a son go off to war, worse yet having him get wounded but thankfully not killed, it's real unnerving as a parent, he added. It's something you never want to happen to your child. Matthew, 31, a 1990 graduate of HVHS, had tears in his eyes when he greeted his younger brother. A day before Irish was wounded, his family rejoiced at the news he had been quoted in an Associated Press story, confirming that he was well, Matthew recalled. We were excited about that, Matthew said. But the very next day we were informed that he had been shot. It was very frustrating, very scary, he added. We came close to losing him. I'm very proud of him. Medford resident Bob Spence, 52, a former Marine who, like Irish, served as a ground pounder, was there to welcome him. It made no difference that he didn't know Irish. I figure we all know him: he's Corps, said Spence, who was wounded in Vietnam. Beaverton resident Kerrie Liemener and her husband made a trip south just to greet Irish. She is formally from New Zealand. We wanted him to know we support them, she said of the troops, adding, We wanted to do something so we came down here. Irish, who was last home during the Christmas holidays, joined the Corps a little over three years ago to earn money to attend culinary school. He doesn't plan to re-enlist. It's not because I don't like the Marine Corps ' I love the Marine Corps, he said. But I'm getting married here soon and I don't want to put her through me being gone all the time. He is engaged to a flight attendant from Sri Lanka. He met her while serving two years in Bahrain. As he watched his son in uniform being welcomed home by friends and as well as strangers, David Irish noted he and others who served in Vietnam never had such a reception. It makes me feel great to see this, that he can come home proud, he said. A day Irish will never forget Cpl. Patrick Irish will never forget that dusty day as the Marines' 3rd Battalion, 4th Regiment moved north near Al-Kut, a town about 100 miles south of Baghdad. I remember everything like it was yesterday, the rifleman said. It was about noon on April 3. After American tanks fired a few rounds at enemy targets, Irish and the other Marines in his unit moved forward to investigate several fox holes. We 'fragged' a couple of holes, he recalled. Everything was OK. Most of the holes were clear. His squad leader lobbed a fragmentation grenade into the third hole they found, presumably clearing it. But as Irish approached the hole, an Iraqi soldier popped up. He and I met eye to eye ' I was about two feet from him, Irish said. We both shot about the same time. Irish would later find out that he was hit three times in the chest and once in the shoulder. Luckily, I was wearing my bulletproof plate ' it stopped all three, he said. I will never doubt a bulletproof plate again. What went through his mind when he was shot? Ouch, Irish replied. The force of the rounds spun him around, slamming him to the ground, he said. Two of his buddies grabbed him, taking him out of harm's way. He was transported to a nearby medical station where two Navy corpsmen administered first aid. He was then whisked off by helicopter to a hospital. As for the Iraqi soldier who shot him, he wasn't so fortunate. I got him, Irish said quietly. After his medical leave, the corporal will report to the Twentynine Palms Marine base in Southern California, where he will undergo physical therapy. My range of motion is fairly good, he said, but added he feels pain when making some movements and can only lift about three pounds with his left arm. While noting the rest of his platoon is now in Baghdad, Irish said he would have liked to complete the mission. I wanted to finish the whole thing with them, he said. Barbara Irish holds her son Patrick?s hand during a press conference in the Medford airport Friday while his father, former Marine David Irish, stands by. The 23-year-old Marine corporal returned home on a 30-day leave after being wounded in Iraq. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell - Mail Tribune Bob Pennell