Monday, March 24, 2003 | 9:30 a.m.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas' associate vice president of finance, George Scaduto, has been glued to his television watching for any news of his son, Lance Cpl. George Scaduto, Jr.
The younger Scaduto was believed to be among the first wave of Marines headed toward Baghdad. There's no way of knowing for sure though, so George Sr. and his wife Linda Scaduto must wait for news like the rest of the parents of the thousands of soldiers deployed to Iraq.
"You just have to get through it," George Scaduto said. "You try to get as much news as you can and hopefully it will be a quick operation like they promised it will be."
Scaduto Jr. was stationed in Kuwait with the Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines. The unit of about 160 Marines is known as the "Saints and Sinners," because it is composed of troops from Utah and Nevada.
Waiting for word on the battalion became especially difficult after reports came last week that four Marines died in a helicopter crash. Then a lieutenant in the Marines was killed, making the waiting even harder for the family.
"I knew he probably wouldn't be on the helicopter," Linda Scaduto said. "But when I heard ... that lieutenant was killed, my heart just stopped."
To quell the feeling of helplessness, Linda said she and her husband stayed up until the wee hours of the morning searching the Internet for mention of the 23rd Marines.
Attempts to confirm the whereabouts of the battalion with Marine Reserves headquarters in New Orleans were unsuccessful Friday.
Officials could say only that the battalion was deployed to southwest Asia.
Had diplomatic talks been extended a couple of more months, the Scadutos wouldn't be going through this trying experience. Scaduto Jr., now 22, had been scheduled to end his stint as a Marine reservist in June.
Instead, he left for Kuwait in February, saying goodbye to his wife Lynette and 8-month-old daughter Katline. Since then, the Scadutos have kept in touch with their son through letters.
His most recent letter, received last Thursday, mentioned the boredom of waiting in the desert and the battalion's training exercises with gas masks.
Now the Scadutos must wait for word of their son's whereabouts, along with the families of the 55,000 other Marines stationed in the Persian Gulf.
"You've got to figure, my son was 10 years old when Desert Storm happened," said George Scaduto. "Never in a million years did I think he would be there 12 years later doing what he's doing."
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