Marine veterans Jeffrey Calhoun (left) and Kenneth Arban met for the first time in 35 years at the VFW in Noblesville. (Reporter photo)
By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com
On Sept. 15, 1990, U.S. Marine Corps Alpha Company, 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion (CEB), 1st Platoon was deployed to Saudi Arabia from Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Among those young men who were going off to defend America’s interest in Operation Desert Shield, later Desert Storm, were Corporal Kenneth Arban and Corporal Jeffrey Calhoun.
On the evening of Nov. 29, on the leading edge of Indiana’s first substantial snow of the season, they got together in person for the first time in 35 years at VFW Post 6246, 654 S. 9th St., Noblesville.
Arban currently lives in Collinsville, Ill. Calhoun lives in Fishers.
“We participated in breaching minefield obstacles on the first day of the ground war on 24 February 1991,” Arban told The Reporter. “Our 3rd CEB company supported 1st Battalion, 5th Marines and 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, which were identified as Task Force Ripper.”
Arban was an avid photographer during Desert Storm. He came to the VFW with hundreds of photos organized in binders. Each photo was numbered and each binder had an index with notes about every picture.
“He just had the gift back then,” Calhoun said. “He had a camera with him at all times. It’s crazy.”
Arban said the photos allow him to remember all the stories from his time serving with Calhoun in a way he could not without them.
“I have a blessing that I can look at the photos for all these years and help my memory,” Arban said.
These two men fell quickly back into an easy camaraderie, only moments after The Reporter arrived. Photos led to stories, teasing, and laughter.
“Here’s one where he’s holding up the pole waiting for his spot,” Arban said of a photo showing Calhoun leaning on a pole, resting while building one of the “tent cities” Alpha Company’s CEB had to install each time they were relocated.
“Oh, I’m lazy right?” Calhoun said with a laugh. “Is that what you’re doing? Saying I’m lazy? Let’s find one where I’m working!”
After flipping a few pages in Arban’s binder, Calhoun laughed again and said, “I might be working right here. I don’t know what I’m doing right there, but I might be getting ready to do something. He [Arban] just drove the Lieutenant around.”
When asked why he got to drive the Lieutenant around, Arban said he was just lucky, but Calhoun quickly interjected, “Because he’s the one getting out of work!”
A few photos later, Calhoun points to a photo where he was digging the foundation for one of the tents and asked that The Reporter attest that he was in fact working in that photo.
For the record, there were abundant photos of Calhoun working in the desert heat, and we share these quotes only to show that these men can laugh and tease one another 35 years later as if only weeks had passed.
Jeffrey Calhoun while on tour during Desert Storm. (Photo provided)
Kenneth Arban while on tour during Desert Storm. (Photo provided)
Calhoun and Arban both joined the Marines for their own reasons. In Calhoun’s case, he always knew he wanted to be a Marine.
“Honestly, first, I wanted to go to college, but my parents couldn’t afford to send me to college,” Calhoun said. “My brother had been to the Marine Corps and my cousin went. Then, what was so crazy is that a Marine Corps recruiter came to Southport High School where I was at, and that just took me over the top. He had his dress blues on and everything, looking all hard. I was like, maybe I’ll do that. So that’s what I did.”
Calhoun continues to serve his country, as many vets do, by working at the Post Office in Hamilton County.
Arban, also like many vets, gravitated toward security work, currently for Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. He and his vast collection of photographs are the reason these two got to spend time together once again.
“In that era all you had was a few names you knew so-and-so was from Ohio or somebody was from California,” Arban said. “You might have had a good address. You might have a good phone number, but then things change. I didn’t have anything with Jeff [Calhoun] at all. Jump forward to 2017 and I got on board with social media. I found a group page that a couple of our guys started in 2010. This is our first time meeting in 35 years, so literally from the end of the ground conflict of Desert Storm we haven’t seen or spoken other than a few text messages and stuff in the last year.”
Thank you, gentlemen, both for serving our country and for allowing The Reporter to be a small part of your reunion.
Calhoun & Arban’s squad. (Photo provided)
