Mike Coffman – state treasurer and soon-to-be-reinstated Marine major – says he often thinks about two Iraqi officers who surrendered to his unit during the Persian Gulf War.
Coffman and his troops had been sent in advance of the main attack – a decoy to distract and draw fire from dug-in Iraqis.
The fight ended almost as soon as it began.
By midmorning, the Iraqis stopped firing. By midafternoon, they were crossing a mine field to surrender.
By the next morning, the 124 Marines under Coffman’s command had corralled 850 prisoners of war.
But those two Iraqi officers still stand out in his mind. They were university professors who spoke English. They were expendable men sent to the front.
“It became very clear to me that they would never have surrendered if they thought the U.S. wouldn’t finish the job, that there wouldn’t be a regime change,” Coffman said. “They surrendered with the hope that they would be returning to a new Iraq.”
More than a decade later, Coffman is proud that the United States is working to give them that new Iraq. And he is returning to the war-torn region to help finish the job.
On June 6, the 50-year-old Coffman will rejoin the Marine Corps as a major with a civil-affairs unit that will help Iraqis set up local and provincial governments.
He is giving up his post as the state treasurer to take his expertise in political matters and financial affairs to the battlefront.
In Iraq, Coffman will tap his experience crafting laws, balancing competing views, running elections and managing money. He said the mission appealed to him because it fills posts needed by the Marines.
“If the Marine Corps had called me back as an infantry officer, the terrorists would have to be coming across the Platte River,” Coffman said.
Military service runs in Coffman’s family.
His father, Harold, joined the Navy at age 15, only to be discharged a year later when officials discovered his age.
Thirty days later, Harold Coffman was back in the military, serving in the Army.
Mike Coffman, too, tried to join the military at 15, but his father wouldn’t let him. Harold Coffman relented two years later.
Mike Coffman joined the Army in 1972, serving in West Germany. He returned home to go to the University of Colorado. When he graduated in 1979, he transferred from the Army Reserve to the Marines, which took him to the Middle East for the first time.
He left active duty in 1982, then began pursuing a political career with a failed run for Aurora City Council in 1985. By 1988, he was serving in the state House as a Republican from District 40 but took a leave in 1991 to fight in the Gulf War.
As the once-aspiring gubernatorial candidate again takes leave for a military calling, he hopes to return to his treasurer’s post and possibly make a run for secretary of state.
Gov. Bill Owens on Friday wrote Coffman a letter assuring him he could have his job back after his seven-month tour.
And on Thursday, Secretary of State Donetta Davidson gave Coffman a tour of her office.
Before he leaves, Coffman said he will put associates in place to prepare for a campaign when he returns next March.
“It’s an office that requires a strong leader with good management skills,” Coffman said. “If I can help organize elections in Iraq, I can organize elections in Colorado.”
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-820-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.