Residents pay tribute to Eastbluff soldier

Deepa Bharath

Bruce Voss has been obsessed with the news ever since his son, Marine

Corps Lance Cpl. Ian Voss, left for the Persian Gulf.

“It’s like a 24-hour thing,” he said. “You wake up watching the

news. You listen to it in the car, you hear about it all day and you

go to bed watching it.”

The truth is dad’s worried sick. And his neighbors on Vista Ornada

know it.

They put up flags everywhere they could put them up -- in front of

their homes, planted on the sidewalk, pinned to their lapels. Few

trees on the street were without a yellow bow.

On Tuesday, neighbors and boy scouts put together a care package

for the 20-year-old Marine reservist who has written home about

driving his tanker in the desert through raging sandstorms, longing

for a piece of decent red meat and dreaming about the beach.

About 50 neighbors gathered at resident Teri Wilhelm’s house

across the street from the Voss family. They assembled everything

they wanted to send Ian -- from gum and jerky to baby wipes and

Easter candy.

Then they went over to Voss’ home and surprised Bruce Voss and his

wife, Robin, with the package and a banner that read: “Our heroes --

Lance Corporal Ian ‘Vossman’ Voss and USMC 1st Battalion Charlie

Company.” Ian’s mother, Marsha Steinbrenner, lives in Newport Coast.

Wilhelm said the neighbors wanted to do something to show their

support for the family.

“Everybody in the neighborhood contributed to the package,” she

said. “I have a stack of cards for Ian from just about everybody.”

Darlene Bell said she has known Ian since he was a little boy.

“He used to come over to play with my dog,” she fondly recalled.

Bell and neighbor Shirley Fox said they walked in and out of three

stores before they found yellow ribbon.

“Did you know they’re in great demand?” she asked. “Isn’t that

amazing?”

Tracy Hageman has known Ian for about three years.

“I’m very scared for him,” she said. “I want the war to be over

soon and can’t wait for him to come back home.”

Bruce Voss also read Ian’s letters to scouts who were listening

intently. In his last mail, Ian talked about why he was doing what he

was doing: that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and they could

use it to take innocent lives.

“Over the last two months, I’ve learned about Saddam Hussein,” he

wrote. “Everyone thinks it’s about oil, but it’s not.”