In October, Marine Reservist Staff Sergeant Hilarie Garvey lost her home, land and possessions to the California wildfires. Fellow Marine Reservist and Oberlin Senior Ryan Silakoski gave her a hand and helped raise over a thousand dollars in a few weeks to support her.

Working with former Marines John Zercher and Laura Garcia, Silakoski started Operation Cammie, a web site named after Garvey’s military forum screen name, to tell her story and encourage other marines around the world to send donations to a paypal account or through the mail.

The website, operationcammie.com, also features testimonials from friends and pictures of Garvey from happier times. The money raised was sent to Garvey along with a new Marine flag yesterday December 11th, so it would be received in time for Christmas. The site expresses gratitude to many other military related sites, forums and newsletters for getting the word out about Garvey.

Garvey grew up in the military and “was literally babysat by Marines,” according to the web site. She has been in the Marines almost her entire life. When she joined, women a rare thing in the Marines.

Silakoski, who will be commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Marine Corps upon graduation, says that the Marines are like a family.
“The Marine’s motto, ‘Semper Fidelis,’ means always faithful. It refers to a lot of things. Primarily it refers to how we stick together,” said Silakoski.

Though webmaster John Zerch has never met Garvey in person, they have been on-line friends for about two years.

“She kept posting on our forum as the fire got closer. We all felt the loss with her,” said Zerch.

Many Marines who left messages on the website echoed Silakoski’s sentiments. Warren Bonesteel said that pitching in to support a fellow Marine you’ve never even met is commonplace in the Marine Corps community.

“We never leave anyone behind. We’re family as Marines when it comes down to it,” said Bonesteel.

“The last drink of our canteen, the last bite from the C-Rats or MRE’s, the last magazine in our pouch, goes to our brother and sister Marines if they need it. That’s because we know they’ll cover our six, no matter what it takes.”