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By Hoa Nguyen

Staff Writer

March 29, 2003

If Joan Zach had her way, her two sons would always live with her, even through college, marriage and if possible, war.

The Greenwich mom, who gave up an advertising career to raise her sons, even fantasizes about traveling with U.S. troops if it meant she could near her oldest son, a 20-year-old U.S. Marine who is either on his way to Kuwait or arrived there today.

Short of being a traveling "Marine Mom," Joan Zach is wishing for a quick end to the war and praying that God will watch over her son.

"I won't go past that thought," she said. "I don't think I can take it. If something were to happen to him, my life would be over."

Lance Cpl. Gregory Zach, a reservist belonging to the 2nd Battalion, 25th Marines, based out of Garden City, N.Y., always wanted to become a Marine, a firefighter, policeman or some similar professional, his parents said.

"I could never see him sitting behind the desk all day like I do," said Robert Zach, a senior partner at a Manhattan-based advertising company.

Instead of attending college full-time, Gregory Zach wanted to join the Marines but entered the reserves on the advice of his father, a former Army reservist who was a member of the military police.

Known for his perseverance, Gregory Zach, who was athletic in high school and volunteered with the Fire Department, endured boot camp activities such as 72 hours of drills without sleep, his parents said.

He came home a more mature, well-mannered man, who at one point addressed his parents as "sir" and "ma'am."

After boot camp, Zach entered college, only to leave before the semester's end when his reserve unit was activated following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Sent to Camp Lejeune, N.C., he served a year, coming home in December and enrolling in another local college. He again had to leave before the semester ended.

Nearly two weeks ago, Zach, an infantryman with specialized mortar training, left for Camp Lejeune and went overseas either yesterday or today, his mother said.

"I was screaming and crying with my mother," Joan Zach said. "I couldn't talk to anyone."

But the Zachs' fears are mixed with other emotions, such as guilt. They ask themselves: Is it selfish to fear for a son sent to war, when children of other parents have already died?

"Should we say, 'Oh no, not our kid?' " Robert Zach asked.

Still, this will be difficult, especially for Joan Zach, who said that in the past, all of her time was spent with her sons.

"I gear my whole life for them," she said. "People think I'm crazy, but I've loved every moment of it."

Besides having one son overseas, her younger one is in his first year away from home, attending a private high school.

"I'll be on my own to go through this," Joan Zach said. A Roman Catholic, she said she finds solace in thinking about Jesus and how his mother was forced to watch him die.

"I pray every night to the Blessed Mother to give me that strength," she said.

Copyright (c) 2003, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Used by permission.