U.S. MILITARY Captain, bride join forces

The groom is a West Point and Ursuline High School graduate.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HUBBARD -- Army Capt. Marc Angle and Kristie McClay planned to get married last June, but his unexpected deployment to Iraq changed all that.
Angle, 27, found out last February that his unit would be going to the war-torn country and, after leaving March 6, he spent part of about 4 1/2 months stationed at the Baghdad airport, causing the couple to postpone their original June 14 wedding date.
On Sunday, however, Angle, a 1999 West Point and 1996 Ursuline High School graduate, finally got hitched during a full military wedding at St. Patrick Church in Hubbard.
The wedding, conducted by the Rev. Timothy O'Neil, was punctuated by the military tradition in which the bride and groom walked through an arch of sabers created by six swordsmen to ensure the couple's safe transition into their new lives.
The swords dropped after Angle and McClay reached the end of the arch, and their marriage was sealed with a kiss. A tap on the bride's backside from the last sword officially welcomed her to the Army.
Assignment in Baghdad
In Baghdad, Angle served as an intelligence officer who prepared and briefed many air and ground missions that originated from the airport. Angle said his main goal was protecting his battalion and the pilots who flew reconnaissance and other missions.
"The biggest threat [to pilots] was surface-to-air missiles," he explained. "It was hard to tell a pilot where the missiles will be since [enemies] drive around with the missiles."
No pilots were shot down during his watch, however, Angle said proudly. Other duties he was responsible for included collecting, analyzing and deciphering intelligence "about trends or procedural techniques the enemy may have been using."
Angle said that he was struck by the cultural difference between the United States and Iraq and was surrounded by standing and unsanitary water over much of the area, as well as constant smog that hung over Baghdad. People siphoned and resold gasoline almost daily, he added.
Societal divisions
Angle said that many Iraqi teenagers were happy to see the American soldiers, but that some people in their 20s and older "see us as an occupying force."
A large chasm between the few rich Iraqis and the majority who had little was evident in the number of people living in tiny shacks and shanties along small dirt roads, he noted.
"It was definitely an eye-opener. I'm definitely thankful for what we have in the U.S.," he said.
Angle's father, Dick Angle, said his son had been interested in joining the military since he visited West Point military academy as a high school senior. After going there to play on its football team, Angle graduated from the academy in systems engineering and attended flight school in Fort Rucker, Ala., to learn to fly the Blackhawk, the Army's utility helicopter.
From there, Angle went to Bruchkoebel, Germany, where he served from November 2000 to September 2003. Now he's stationed in Fort Lee, Va.
Pulling together
Dick Angle, a marketing education teacher and six-year head football coach at Howland High School, praised his son for being disciplined in athletics and academics throughout his school years.
He also praised the many vendors who accommodated the family when the wedding had to be put off.
"They were concerned about his safety and well-being and said, 'Set a wedding date and we'll go from there,'" he said. The vendors' help made it easier to make all the necessary changes, added the captain's mother, Dr. Bernadette Angle, an education professor at Youngstown State University.
McClay, 26, of Pittsburgh, an accountant for Deloitte & amp; Touche of Pittsburgh, said Angle's deployment "was the most difficult thing" she ever had to endure. She said that the support of family and friends, and access to e-mail, helped her cope with her then-fianc & eacute;'s absence.
She urged families who are worried about a loved one overseas to seek help and guidance. "Talk to people," McClay stressed. "Find a friend and talk. I've had down days and [my best friend] picked me up and said everything will be OK."
McClay is the daughter of Linda Capella and George J. McClay, both of Boardman.
The reception was at Mr. Anthony's Banquet Center in Boardman. The couple plans to live together starting in September.