Finding His Focus

Before he went to Iraq in June, Sgt. Jonathan Drummond thought that he knew hot.

He has since learned a good deal more.

"Iraq is by far the hottest place I have ever been," said Drummond, a 2003 graduate of Reynolds High School.

It can seem hotter than fire. In July, he walked by a barrel in which sensitive documents were being burned.

"The wind from the fire felt better than it did outside," he said by phone.

Drummond, 23, is a Marine in the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, an artillery unit based at Al Taqaddum. Called Camp TQ or TQ by Drummond and the other Marines there, the base is about 45 miles west of Baghdad in the Al Anbar province.

In addition to conducting patrols through local villages and the countryside, his unit is responsible for base security. As the noncommissioned officer in charge of the motor pool for his unit, Drummond spends his day working with 5-ton trucks, trackers and other vehicles.

"It is pretty dang stressful," he said.

Although he is generally not in immediate danger, everyone there is in danger all the time, he said, and it's necessary to keep that in mind at all times.

"Complacence kills," he said.

Drummond works seven days a week. His workday generally starts about 7:30 a.m. and lasts until whatever needs to be done is done. Some days, that's 11 p.m. On most days it's about 7 p.m.

When he has free time, he and fellow Marines might play flag football or have a cookout.

He also keeps up with life in Winston-Salem by e-mail and, occasionally, phone calls.

"That's home," he said. "All my family and friends are there."

His mother, Renee Fisher, works in sponsor relations at Members Credit Union in Winston-Salem, and his stepfather, the Rev. James Fisher, is the minister of St. Paul Baptist Church in Greensboro. He also has an older brother, Spencer Drummond Jr., and other family here.

When Drummond calls or e-mails family members, they leave it to him to say whatever he wants about his life in Iraq. Usually, that's not much. He prefers to let them fill him in on the news here - recently, an aunt preached her first sermon.

When Drummond joined the Marines after he graduated, his family was stunned.

"He didn't really talk to anybody about it," said his brother.

There was more to their surprise other than just not having heard him mention the possibility.

"He doesn't like for people to tell him what to do," Spencer Drummond said. "He liked to do things in his own time."

Once, when the family went down to Parris Island to see off one of Drummond's cousins, a sergeant said to Drummond, "We'll see you here."

The family burst out laughing, Renee Fisher said.

People ordering her son around?

"I never saw that in him," she said.

Growing up, she said, he was always a sweet child with a big smile who liked to help people. He never did get into trouble. But, in high school, he would wait until the last minute before getting things done, and his favorite phrase was "Just chillin'."

Drummond said that's still his favorite line.

"It's a different chillin' now," said James Fisher.

When Drummond left for the Marines, James Fisher said, he was a hard-headed, mischievous boy. Now he is a man with focus, direction and a strong sense of responsibility.

"He is a young man that is real caring," James Fisher said. "Once you get to know John, you've got a good friend."

Drummond's cheering section extends beyond his family. As the director of sponsor affiliation for Members Credit Union, Donna Henry supervises his mother. She watched him grow up.

"He's got the biggest heart you ever saw," she said. "He never walks into this office that he doesn't give me a bear hug."

Often, his mother would turn to Henry to talk to when she was frustrated.

"I kept him alive for a long time," she joked.

He's just a teen-ager being a teen-ager, she would tell his mother.

"I knew he would make his mom proud someday," Henry said.

Henry is one of the few people not surprised that Drummond joined the Marines. She saw that side of him in his tendency to jump in to break things up when friends got into a fight.

Drummond freely acknowledges that he lacked discipline and focus before joining the Marines.

"Before I came in, I used to be a knucklehead," he said.

The Marine Corps has proved a good fit. Patience, responsibility and accountability are three of the things that he says he has learned.

"It really changed him from a boy into a man," said Eric Stiff, the credit union's vice president for marketing and business development.

Drummond re-enlisted and is committed to being a Marine until 2012. After that, he will see. He's thinking about college and working for the FBI.

In the meantime, his family and friends keep him in their minds and hearts.

"I pray for him every day - him and the troops," his mother said.

■ Kim Underwood can be reached at 727-7389 or at kunderwood@wsjournal.com.