Marine and Army Reservist Eric Marella

During a stellar 38-year military career, Eric Marella served in the Marine and Army Reserves, as an enlisted man and officer, in a dozen countries during times of peace and war.

The youngest of four sons, Eric Marella was born in Melrose Park to Dominic and GraceAnn (Russo) Marella. He grew up surrounded by family on both sides. His father’s parents emigrated from Marche and Tuscany, and his mother’s family from Basilicata.

The family sat down to Sunday dinners of pasta with neck bones and sausage, never knowing who might stop in. “It’s always great when you hear a knock on the door, or the doorbell, you opened the door and see your aunts and uncles,” Marella says.

Every December, Marella, his parents and brothers prepared meat-filled ravioli and froze the delicacy to be shared with family on Christmas Eve. “We’d come home from church, change, everyone scrubbed up, hair covered and it was like a production line,” he chuckles.

Marella graduated from St. Charles Borromeo Grade School, continuing to Proviso West High School. In August 1983, before his senior year, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps under the delayed entry program. Because he was only 17 years old, Marella’s parents signed their permission. Marella’s maternal grandfather, a WWII Army veteran, fought with the First Infantry Division, and his father was stationed in France during the Korean conflict. “I joined to serve my country,” Marella says. “I always wanted to be in the military as long as I can remember.”

He graduated high school, and four weeks later reported to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego for basic training, followed by Marine Corps Communications-Electronics School. Marella left for Okinawa, Japan in April 1985, assigned to 2nd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, an artillery unit, as a radio operator. He rotated between going out with the forward observer teams sending calls into the Fire Direction Center, or in the Direction Center on the receiving end of those calls. Marella also drove the battery commander, manning the jeep’s radio, and then was selected to drive the battalion commander.

After two years in Okinawa, Marella was assigned to H Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marines and returned to the States at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Marella extended his enlistment so he could deploy to the Mediterranean with his unit. He traveled to Italy as the battery commander’s driver. He maintained the vehicle in addition to handling all communications for the officer. “If the commander has to get ahold of anyone, you’re on the radio and drive him wherever he has to go, meetings, etc.,” Marella says.

Marella traveled to five countries from February 1988 to October 1988. “We were aboard ship most of the time, and you’d go from port to port,” he says. On land, the troops continuously trained to be prepared for anything. “We would usually train with other forces, whether it’s Army or Marines from those countries,” Marella says.

His reenlistment paperwork fell through three times, prompting Marella to join the Marine Wing Communications Squadron 48 in the Reserve while attending Triton College. He graduated with an associate degree, then continued to Northern Illinois University, where he joined the Army ROTC.

Marella learned of opportunities with the Army Reserve and, nearing his eight-year mark with the Marines, had a serious talk with his grandfather about reenlisting. Marella did an intra-service transfer between the Marine Reserve and Army Reserve in February 1992. “It was a big decision,” he says.

Marella was with the 12th Special Forces Group, based in Arlington Heights. He graduated from NIU in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts in communications and was commissioned as Second Lieutenant. Marella was attached to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Bliss, Texas, as a chemical officer, specializing in nuclear, biological and chemical defense.

The 17-year-old who joined the Marines to serve his country went on to fulfill his mission “38 years, four months and 16 days of total service from when I raised my right hand,” Marella says. From Marine Reserve to Army Reserve, Private to Lieutenant Colonel, peacetime and wartime, with top-secret security clearance and assignments in 12 countries, Marella served his country well.

Marella was on active duty until 1999, moving between assignments and up the ranks as a chemical officer. He developed programs to train more than 900 soldiers how to defend themselves and react to a chemical attack, implementing these plans with various components of the Army in the Tactical Operation Center. Marella was in charge of smoke screens to hide the forces, and the decontamination process once exposed to a chemical attack. “Each training exercise builds upon the next one, the next one, and the next one,” Marella says. “If one soldier, whether it’s training or definitely real life, survives because I trained him or her the right way, then I earned my money as well as the taxpayers’ dollars.”

Wherever he was stationed, Marella prepared the monthly unit status report that was sent to the Pentagon. This included training and readiness for each assigned unit’s personnel and equipment. “Are you technically and tactically ready?” Marella says. “Do you have the right amount of people in the correct positions, qualified to do their jobs?”

Marella deployed to Kuwait in 1997 with 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry, and trained with the British, Italian and Kuwaiti troops, acting as Italian translator when needed. “Basically, if Sadam (Hussein) decided to attack, we were there to prevent that,” he says.

In April 1999, Marella transitioned to a Reserve unit in Denver as observer controller. “We trained a Military Police unit that was getting ready to go to Bosnia,” he says. Following that brief assignment, he commanded a Quartermaster Unit’s Headquarters and then a Chemical Company — both in Indiana.

Back on active duty in 2001, Marella was stationed at Fort Sheridan, Illinois as the Army Recruiting Battalion’s education specialist, developing its college-recruiting program. After the 9/11 attack, Marella called the Chemical Branch and said, “Hey, I was just in Kuwait two years ago, I know exactly what Sadam has.” They would not send him because of his assignment.

He contacted Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations and told them, “I used to be in 12th Group, I’m airborne qualified, I speak two foreign languages and I’m a communications major.” Marella transitioned to Civil Affairs in July 2003, on active duty until retirement.

Civil Affairs soldiers work closely with the State Department, governmental organizations, the Red Cross, and militaries of allied nations, protecting civilians stateside and abroad. “We’re the military ambassadors,” Marella says. “In peacetime, we can help keep the peace, or as things happen, we help mitigate certain things.”

Marella deployed to Iraq in 2009, after previous orders fell through. “All those years of no matter where I was, which service I was in, preparing to deploy, I finally got to do my part and they didn’t cancel my orders,” says Marella.

He was the Civil Affairs adviser for the 10th Iraqi Army Division as part of a military transition team. Marella advised officers and their Civil Affairs soldiers. They went on daily missions, often meeting and speaking with public works officials, the chief of police and school principals. “We went to an orphanage and delivered mattresses, books, etc.,” Marella says.

A favorite mission was driving through towns from Amarah to Tallil, dropping off care packages for the impoverished civilians. “Sometimes rice and tea,” he says. “We had rechargeable radios, jerseys for soccer teams, soccer balls, etc.”

Marella served in Iraq for nine months. He was then assigned to the 364th Civil Affairs Brigade as operations and plans officer and public affairs representative, stationed in Oregon. Over the years he earned two graduate certificates from the Naval Postgraduate School in stability security and development in complex operations, and in rule of law, both geared toward global public policy.

In 2014, Marella was assigned to U.S. Army Reserve Headquarters in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he remained through his career. As operations officer, Marella developed the Continuity of Operations Program for the entire Army Reserve worldwide. “Should something happen to our building, be it a natural disaster, a fire, a terrorist attack and we can’t occupy the building, we are able to go somewhere else and do our jobs,” Marella says.

Army Reserve Headquarters operated nonstop, seven days a week, 365 days a year. As watch branch chief, Marella supervised 10 employees. “Anything that happened in the Army Reserve came through my personnel,” he says. “Anything dealing with any reserve soldier, facility, equipment, and family members, too.”

Marella became the reserve component branch manager for personnel, developing guidelines for acquisition and training of Civil Affairs soldiers at the Special Warfare Center and School. In his final assignment, Marella was the deputy brigade commander for the 1st Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Training Brigade, with units in six states. He trained other units how to properly utilize these assets, and also evaluated Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations units to make sure they were doing their jobs correctly. “In addition to training, we also had units conducting real-world missions making a difference with our allies in other countries,” Marella says. “Civil Affairs doesn’t stop. We are utilized everywhere all the time.”

Marella retired as Lieutenant Colonel in January 2022. He and his wife, Lisa Lee, have four children and five grandchildren. Marella earned the Bronze Star in Iraq and proudly says, “I am able to wear the same combat patch on my right shoulder as my grandfather, that means a lot.”

Twenty-six years to the day that Marella earned his commission, he delivered the commissioning speech at Northern Illinois University to the newly commissioned officers. “To me that was the crowning achievement of my career, where I could pass on a little bit of knowledge I learned,” Marella says.

Marella reflects, “Not everybody is lucky enough to do what they love for most of their life. I got to do that. I got to go places and do things while I was serving my country.”