46th Annual Milwaukee Veterans Day Parade & Day of Honor, November 7, 2009
Honoring all American's who have Served

CPL Jacob Klipp
United States Marine Corps
Operation Iraqi Freedom II-2


(Jacob Klipp on the left.)

My Life in the Service

The things I liked most -
The best part about the Marine Corps was the Marines. The friendships a guy builds are stronger than almost anything else in life. When they say
‘Band of Brothers’, you really have no idea how right they are. These guys experience the same highs, and work through the same lows as you do. When everything goes crazy, adrenaline is flowing, shrapnel is flying, and your head is spinning, it is profound how reassuring it is to look to your left or right, and see one of your brothers looking back at you, and knowing you guys will figure this one out.

The things I liked the least -
The thing I liked the least about the Marine Corps was losing buddies.

I liked to pass the time by -
We had a few hobbies in Iraq. We went to the gym just about every day. We also played Monopoly almost every night (when we were on base). There was an argument about whether or not Monopoly was a game of chance, or skill. Four of us devised a scoring system, and tracked our Monopoly finishes over a period of a month or two. I won both the argument and the tournament. FYI – Monopoly is, in fact, a game of skill.

The things I missed the most were -
I missed my friends and family. I missed hanging out with my little brother. I missed (oddly enough) mowing our yard (since I never like doing it now). I missed being able to use the men’s room without putting on 80 lbs of gear. I missed ESPN.

The contents of my favorite care package was -
Our section got a wooden Monopoly board and some spices, which came in handy. I totally forgot about what a great thing to include in Care Packages different spices were… My favorite personal care package contained a video game, tuna, beef jerky, a few books I had asked for, and a letter about normal, boring day-to-day life for my friend Gloria. Basic Training was the same way. The best letters (to me) were not about deep thoughts, or lengthy congratulations… They were about the movie someone saw that was only okay, the boss who gave them a hard time, the noisy neighbors… The normal life none of us were living, but all hoped to return to.

My proudest moment -

The first thing I did when I was discharged -
I bought a car! In retrospect, I should have saved for college!

Best friends were Will Kim and Mike Vasquez (forming the TRIPOD!!!), and my brother for life is Ray Monk. Lt Col Sean“The Maj” Sullivan was, is, and always will be an incredible mentor and friend.