22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit

The flight deck of the USS Bataan is buzzing with activity as marines prepare to put boots on the ground in Haiti.

It's not war, but perhaps the worst humanitarian crisis young members of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit will ever see.

"It'll go far beyond anything I saw in Iraq or anything you have seen in Iraq or Afghanistan," US Marine Capt. Edmund Clayton told a group of platoon and squad leaders.

Clayton urged leaders to prepare their marines for the emotional impact, so they can stay alert during the mission and hopefully return home without having nightmares or other lingering psychological effects.

That task may be especially difficult for LCpl. Junior Eugene, a marine translator originally from Haiti. With limited phone service in the aftermath of the earthquake, Eugene has no information on the status of his mother and nine siblings who still reside on the island.

"If I think about it too much, it's gonna affect the mission," Eugene said. "So what I do is I try to stay focused... It's not 100 percent that I'm gonna get a chance to see my family. But as long as the mission gets complete, I'm helping somebody."

From the blog diary of Jonathan Serrie, Fox News
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/01/19/marines-face-tough-task-in-haiti/