A 2002 Newton North graduate shipped off to Iraq yesterday to help Iraqis rebuild their country in the midst of war.
Once Chris Walsh finishes up in Iraq, he'll go to Afghanistan for a seven-month deployment.
The 25-year-old Marine second lieutenant will be with an infantry engineering unit composed of soldiers from various branches of the U.S. military.
"We train Iraqis to sustain themselves, to set up their own security," he said.
They will be advising an Iraqi engineer battalion how to use weapons, construct buildings and clear away roadside bombs, among other tasks.
The work may be dangerous, but Walsh feels he has a calling. It's part of the process of Iraqis securing the country and American troops pulling out, he said.
Walsh's parents, who live in Auburndale, are very proud of their son, though they said they will constantly be thinking about his safety throughout his six-month deployment northwest of Baghdad.
"We're frightened for him," Mary Lou Walsh said. "It's a very scary situation."
Walsh's parents said they were surprised to find out a couple of years ago that their son had decided to join the Marines.
He had always exhibited certain qualities of a soldier, including being a team player, loving a challenge and staying in shape, but he had never mentioned the Marines until he was in college.
"It wasn't like he was a little boy always saying, 'I'm going to be a soldier,''' Mary Lou Walsh said, noting that once he did mention it, family members thought he might eventually forget the idea.
"My daughter's response was she laughed actually," she said of Chris' sister, Rebecca Walsh Bradley, 30.
But he didn't forget the idea.
Chris said he got to a point where he realized he had been privileged his whole life, and wanted to give something back.
Having grown up in affluent Newton, then attending Northfield Mount Hermon School and Trinity College in Connecticut with people just like him, he said, "I had pretty much grown up in a bubble."
He felt the same way after college, living in New York City and working in finance. So he made his decision.
"I didn't like the idea that 30 years down the line I looked back and saw I didn't serve," he said. "I'd regret it for the rest of my life."
He entered the Marines in January 2008, and embarked on a 10-week Officer Candidate School program in Quantico, Va.
That was an extreme challenge, both physically and mentally, but he made it through. According to his dad, David Walsh, he entered the program in great shape.
He had been working out at two gyms in New York City - a regular gym and one with more intense workouts for athletes.
"So if he got into the Marines, he'd be ready for them," David said, noting his son has always valued staying in shape.
He played varsity soccer and lacrosse at Newton North, and was on Trinity's varsity soccer team.
David said that about one third of the people in Officer Candidate School did not make it through. He remembers hearing about how his son had to go into water up to his head in freezing weather.
"If you get through that, you can get through almost anything," he said.
Chris then did six months of basic training in Quantico, followed by advanced training with an engineering unit for 12 weeks in Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
After that he moved to Twentynine Palms in California, and was assigned a platoon in the engineering unit assigned to an infantry unit.
To get his belongings to California, he drove a moving van with a car attached across the country. Several years before, he would not have done something like that, Walsh said.
"(The Marines have) given him that mental confidence," he said. "That's probably the biggest thing."
Chris said he's not yet sure what he will do after his four-year Marine contract ends in two years.
Right now he's focused on his upcoming mission, for which he volunteered. He is excited, but nervous, too.
"It'd be silly not to be a little scared and not to have all the emotions," he said.
His parents said they will miss him very much and communicate with him as frequently as possible. Mary Lou said she's thinking of getting in touch with other moms of Marines for support.
"I think it is going to be a necessary part of my life," she said.
Christine Laubenstein can be reached at claubens@cnc.com.
