FAMILY LIVES FOR MARINE'S PHONE CALLS.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer LANCASTER - Joseph Welliver was a 17-year-old senior at John Burroughs High in Burbank when he signed up for the Marines. Before he reported for duty, terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and Marines went to fight in Afghanistan. That didn't deter him. ``He talked about the military before. He decided the Marines were the hardest thing and he had to do the hardest thing,'' says his mother, Pamela Vargo. ``It was before 9-11. That just fueled his resolve to go in and be in the Marines.'' Now a 21-year-old lance corporal lance corporal n. 1. Abbr. LCpl A noncommissioned rank in the U.S. Marine Corps that is above private first class and below corporal. 2. One who holds this rank. , Welliver is spending his second tour of duty - and his second Christmas - in Iraq. Wounded Nov. 2 when a roadside bomb exploded - he suffered a concussion and was hit in the arm by shrapnel shrapnel Originally, a type of projectile invented by the British artillery officer Henry Shrapnel (1761–1842), containing small spherical bullets and an explosive charge to scatter the shot and fragments of the shell casing. - he worried about his family getting the news that he was hurt before he could tell them he was OK. ``He said he had to make sure he got to the phone before the Red Cross came to our door,'' Vargo said. Welliver went into the Marines in 2002, planning to make it a career. That plan has changed: Illness forced his mother, a single mom, to give up her job at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center is a hospital in Burbank, California, USA. The hospital has 455 beds, and is part of Providence Health & Services. It's adress is: 501 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91505. and sell the family home in Burbank, moving to a bigger but less-expensive house in Lancaster. His twin sister, Crystal, got a job in Lancaster, and his little sister, Samantha, just a toddler when he went in the military, started kindergarten. Her son has been worried about his family's finances and everything he misses as his baby sister grows up, more than he worries about his grueling work and danger, Pamela Vargo said. She worries herself that he gives up sleep or a hot meal for a rare chance to telephone home. ``I think calling home and talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to people he loves is more nourishment nour·ish·ment n. Something that nourishes; food. for him than eating,'' sister Crystal said. To help bridge that gap, Vargo and Joe's sisters participated in the GI Greetings effort through the Daily News, which allows people to make videos for their loved ones loved ones npl → seres mpl queridos loved ones npl → proches mpl et amis chers loved ones love npl overseas and have them posted on the newspaper's Web site for the recipients and others to enjoy. Their message: We love you and come home safe. His family sends him e-mails that the Marines print out in Iraq and deliver to troops in the field more quickly than a letter would arrive. When he was in the hospital, he telephoned every day, but on missions, he can call them only about once a month. This 21st-century communications miracle that lets military men in battle call their loved ones at home can be unnerving un·nerve tr.v. un·nerved, un·nerv·ing, un·nerves 1. To deprive of fortitude, strength, or firmness of purpose. 2. To make nervous or upset. . One 15-minute call home on a satellite phone was interrupted by gunfire from an enemy sniper See sniping software. , who apparently saw the phone's distinctive antenna. ``He's, like, 'Damn it!''' Vargo said. ``He called back and said, 'We got him.''' Welliver's family doesn't know what he's doing now, or even what city he's in, but he tells them his unit has a special mission that he regards as important. He is up for rotation home in April. ``Every time I talk to him, I ask him, are you coming home in April,'' Vargo said. ``He says it depends on the mission.'' His mother and sisters are eager for April to come. ``Then we can breathe,'' Crystal said. Charles Bostwick, (661) 267-5742 chuck.bostwick(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour AV edition only) Mom Pamela Vargo and daughters Crystal Welliver, right, and Samantha Vargo, 5, made a video for Joseph Welliver, a Marine serving in Iraq. Michael Owen
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