'Support system' keeps up son's spirits in Iraq
E.B. native dedicated to serving his country, writing his mother
BY JESSICA SMITH
Staff Writer

PHOTOSBY SCOTT FRIEDMAN Michele Jabin, of East Brunswick, holds a photograph of her son, Josh, a U.S. Marine Corps captain now stationed in Iraq, during the township's Veterans Day observance Saturday morning at the municipal complex.

EAST BRUNSWICK - U.S. Marine Capt. Josh Jabin's family is counting down the eight weeks until he returns home from Iraq.

Josh is counting down the haircuts.

In Al Asad, where Jabin was deployed in January, he gets his hair cut every two weeks, and he told his mother he has four more to go before his homecoming.

His six-month tour of duty turned into a year, but the East Brunswick native did not mind continuing to serve. He even kept a sense of humor about it.

"Josh said that's what he has been trained for," said his mother, Michele.

Josh Jabin, 27, is in charge of keeping a wing of helicopters flying by making sure they have all the necessary supplies repaired and maintained. In his unit, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron (MALS)-16, he also travels by helicopter to other bases to perform his duties. He is in charge of 100 Marines.

Bagpiper William Lupinacci Jr. leads the processional during a Veterans Day observance.

A year before being deployed to Iraq, Jabin served for two years in Okinawa, Japan. Upon returning, he was stationed in San Diego at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, where he will continue to be stationed when he comes back to the states.

He has been accepted to a naval postgraduate school in Monterey, Calif., where he will study to get his master's degree in operations analysis. After that, he will serve another four years to pay back his additional schooling.

Jabin became inspired to serve his country as a young boy, when he attended a ceremony in which his brother, Christian Fleming, 35, of Milltown, was sworn in to the Navy. After graduating from East Brunswick High School, Josh was accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Approximately 18 percent of the academy's graduates become Marines, Michele said.

At the academy, Jabin was a varsity athlete, as well as a member of the second-highest ranking staff at the school. The job of the honor staff is to make sure everything is done ethically and honorably by the midshipmen.

"That's my son, a tough athlete who is concerned with honor," said his father, Arnold.

Josh seems to have brought both qualities with him to Iraq.

He exercises daily, and plays basketball whenever the scorching temperatures are under 120 degrees, his parents said. The day after Rutgers University's football team reigned victorious over No. 3 Louisville last week, Jabin was glued to the television watching. The die-hard Mets fan also awakened at 3 a.m. to watch the playoff games, though his workday starts at 6 a.m.

In terms of honor, Jabin still looks out for those around him. When he gets care packages in the mail, he makes it a point to share what he receives, putting extra items into a box designated for any Marine who might need it.

"We have a really great support system," Michele said. "Many of our family and friends have sent him packages, and it's a piece of home. That's what they miss the most. They don't want to be there and be forgotten."

Josh has no need to worry about being forgotten. His mother sends him food each week, so he only has to take the 40-minute round-trip walk to where meals are served once a day. His sister Alexandra, 24, of East Bruns-wick, organized a program at the Schoenly Elementary School in Spots-wood, where she teaches kindergarten and first grade, in which the children sent letters and toys to Josh and other soldiers.

The East Brunswick Jewish Center, where he attended Hebrew school, is putting together packages of snacks and supplies to send for Hannukah.

Although phone calls are rare luxuries for Jabin, e-mail helps him to stay in touch with his close-knit family, including his other sister, Gillian Giglio, 28, of Eastchester, N.Y.

"Josh has said to me that he's the only Marine who writes to his mother every day," Michele said .

For Michele, having loved ones serve in the military is not a new experience. Christian's father, her first husband, died in the Navy.

"My father died in the second World War in a submarine, and then my oldest son is in the Navy, and we are at war in Iraq, and I'm very proud of my family," she said. "I just want my son to come home safely. We pray that all of the men and women in Iraq come home safely."