Profile, Sgt. Randy T. Tulepan

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Sgt. Randy T. Tulepan
By Sgt. Joshua S. Higgins, USMC
U. S. NAVAL BASE, GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA ? For many U.S. service members, guarding Al Qaeda and Taliban detainees at Camp X-Ray is just another mission. However, for one Marine from Camp Lejeune, N.C., the task is a bit more personal.

When the tragic events of last Sept. 11 unfolded, Sgt. Randy T. Tulepan, squad leader, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment, was asleep in Okinawa, Japan. He was participating in a regularly scheduled six-month Unit Deployment Program, but training had ceased due to a typhoon. According to Tulepan, with all the goings on around him, concern for his father's safety was the last thing on his mind. A wake-up call from a fellow infantryman would change things quickly.

"A friend woke me and said two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center," recounted Tulepan, a native of Long Island, N.Y. "I didn't believe him at first, but after he insisted he was serious I got up to watch the news."

Tulepan said it did not occur to him right away that his father, Craig Tulepan, was inside one of the buildings. He noted that after a few minutes of staring at the television monitor in disbelief, he recalled his father telling him he would be participating in a 2-week training seminar with Morgan Stanley, an investment banking institution with offices on the 63rd floor of the second World Trade Center tower.

"I didn't know if he was there or not so I began calling home," said Tulepan. "It took over three hours and sixty dollars worth of phone cards just to reach someone. When I finally did get through, my family could only confirm that he was there, but no one knew if he had escaped."

Thus began what Tulepan described as the longest day of his life. It would be more than 14 hours before he found out if his father was still alive or not.

"The hardest thing was watching the news and hearing reports about the possibility of more than twenty-five thousand people dead. An employee at Morgan Stanley told my family most everyone he worked with got out, but we couldn't be sure."

Tulepan learned his father had indeed made it safely to a hotel a few blocks away from ground zero, but he admitted the details his father gave him during their first telephone conversation after the attack were just as frightening as the long wait to find out if he was alive.

"My father explained that after the first building was attacked there was a lot of confusion and no one understood what was going on," said Tulepan. "People around him were saying everything was all right and it was just an accident. When he looked out the window and saw flames from the fire he told everyone he was leaving and they should leave too. As he was walking down the stairs the second plane hit. Fire alarms sounded, lights went out, and the sprinkler system came on. He said it took him nearly an hour to get out."

"Knowing he was that close to death is a very scary thing to think about," he added.

Because his father had such a close call, Tulepan said he feels like his family has a much greater appreciation for life, and although he worries something else could happen, he believes the government is doing everything it can to prevent that. He also noted his family's concern for his safety while deployed here.

"My family worries about me also, but they're glad I'm doing my part in America's war against terrorism," he said. "They talk about how ironic it is I now guard the people responsible for what happened that day."