Smokes help troops bond after battle, Menasha man says
Jump to full article: Green Bay (WI) Press-Gazette, 2006-01-22
Author: Steve Wideman Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers
Intro: U.S. Marine Cpl. Benjamin Czap and 150 other Marines left Fallujah, Iraq, after 25 days of fighting.
The Marines gathered around a large fire as cases of cigars were passed around to the weary soldiers, including Czap, who had never smoked a cigar.
"It's pretty much a military tradition that when you get back from a battle you smoke a cigar," said Czap, who has been honorably discharged from the Marines and now lives in Menasha.
"We pulled out of Fallujah after nearly a month of fighting and with no showers and very little sleep. We lost 17 of my friends who were killed. We were all pretty well shell-shocked," Czap said. "That was the first cigar I had. It was almost a moving experience. It took me away from everything. It made me feel like I was home. I don't know why. It just did."
Czap wants to make sure fellow Marines still fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan have a chance to partake in what he calls "victory cigars."
Czap and a co-worker at Stowe-Woodward in Neenah are asking Fox Cities residents to donate cigars for shipment to frontline Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cigars are being collected at Appleton Souvenir & Cigar Co., 415 W. College Ave.
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Quotes from this article:
It's pretty much a military tradition that when you get back from a battle you smoke a cigar. . . . The cigars represent victory. . . . "I just want to let them (soldiers) know that the American public still values and honors them and the public is taking the time out of their busy day to do something for them, to say 'Here. Here is your victory cigar because you guys are heroes in our book.'
U.S. Marine Cpl. Benjamin Czap, who is asking Fox Cities (WI) residents to donate cigars for shipment to frontline Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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