Veterans: Bin Laden's Death Brings a Sense of Accomplishment (With Video)

For two local veterans who spent time serving in Iraq, the news of Osama bin Laden’s death was news they had been hoping to hear for a long time.

David Fetherolf, 24, and Jack Poteet, 28, were both in the Marine Corps and are students at CCBC Catonsville. For both men, the events of 9/11 shaped their military experiences, and finding bin Laden was something that troops serving overseas would think of from time to time.

Fetherolf, who was a freshman in high school when 9/11 happened, said the events solidified his desire to join the Marines, which he did three days after he graduated high school in Pennsylvania. When he was deployed in Iraq in 2006, bin Laden’s name would come up during 10-hour convoy missions.

“People would speculate about if he was alive at all [back then],” Fetherolf said, who said he also thought the same thing.

So on Sunday night when he was driving from Pennsylvania to Catonsville, Fetherolf “really was surprised” when friends started texting him the news.

For Poteet, jokes about bin Laden would also come up during his tours of duty. Poteet grew up in New York City and was in the Marines when 9/11 happened.

His fellow troops would joke that bin Laden was working at a "quickie" mart or convenience store, or any place that was in plain sight.

In addition to feeling surprised about the news, both men said they were also proud of the U.S. troops' actions.

“It’s that whole sense of accomplishment that ‘we did it,’” Poteet said.

Fetherolf also immediately thought of troops serving overseas now.

“It’s going to be a huge morale booster for them,” he said.

Fetherolf is also looking forward to seeing bin Laden’s face fade. As he was driving home from Pennsylvania and stopped to get gas, he walked into a convenience store and saw bin Laden’s face on television.

“To this day I see his face and it makes me angry,” he said.