When Greg Kingsley of Springfield Township picked up his Herald newspaper Wednesday, he had the shock of his life. An Associated Press picture of his son, a Marine serving in Iraq, was on the front cover.

"It was just unreal," said the father of Cpl. Nathan S. Kingsley. The Marine was depicted leading a team through a warehouse in central Iraq.

Nathan, 21, was deployed to Kuwait Feb. 15 and except for a letter or two, his father hadn't heard from him.

"That week was unreal when I saw him. I had no idea, I had no word. To see him at a warehouse in Iraq was pretty incredible," Kingsley said of his only son. "It definitely helped. It made me feel good. What are the chances of all the soldiers over there, of my son getting picked out?"

A week prior to seeing his son's picture on the front page of The Herald, Kingsley had received a call from a Grove City woman who had seen Nathan's photo on the Marine Web site.

Kingsley said his son enlisted right after he graduated from Grove City High School in 2000. Kingsley, a Navy man, wasn't too sure about his son's choice to join the Marines at the time.

"I didn't think a lot of it. Other branches offer a lot more schooling. I guess its a macho attitude: 'I'm not going to do what Dad did'," he said. "But no one could tell me anything when I was in school and when I graduated either."

But since his son's deployment to Iraq, Kingsley is in total support.

"I knew it was coming," Kingsley said of the war. "I knew we had to do it, but it's just eating at your guts because you know your son is going to be over there. I don't know. It's just a part of reality I guess."

He also finds that prayer has been a big part of his life during this time.

"I'm doing a lot of praying. I wrote him a letter and said If I ever knew I would pray this much, I would have become a minister," Kingsley said. "He's the last thing on my mind when I go to sleep and the first thing on my mind when I wake up."

He's also glad that the conflict is drawing to a close.

"Thank goodness," he said. "A lot of lives were spared. We just thank God for that. It could have been a lot lot worse."

In the meantime, Kingsley is waiting to hear from his son again, and is storing away a few copies of the newspaper with his son's picture. "I have some copies set back for him. He's not even aware he's on the Internet or in The Herald at all."

Though all of Nathan's family has been worried and praying for him, his father talked briefly of Nathan's mother who passed away years before.

"It makes the tension a little higher," he said.

Kingsley described his son as "a real likeable guy. He loves to hunt, always played sports, always hung out with his friends. He's just one of the guys."

"I know it's not over. But I know for what has been done, they've done a fantastc job. We should be proud of our service peoeple and our leaders for doing a great job and planning it out and getting it done so quickly. I think it's very important we stand behind our veterans."

He also stands behind a specific Marine. "I'm very proud. I'm proud of all the men and the women over there, but especially proud of Nathan," he said. "I'm praying for him constantly. I love him and can't wait for him to get home and we can share some good stories."

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