HIT, Iraq -- As another day conducting Operation Sword wound down for the Marines of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, they uncovered items that are used to create roadside and vehicle bombs. The Marines found six long range cordless phone packages buried underneath cement bags in a building the company was using as a base while they continued operations to clear the city. The packages were first discovered by Lance Cpl. Bradley S. Bodkin, a mortar man, while he was moving cement bags to reinforce the windows of the base. “I was just doing what I was told and moving the bags when I noticed the first box and as we dug deeper we found five more,” explained the Morgantown, W.Va., native. The boxes contained a telephone, a base station and extra batteries. These items are used by insurgents to make and remotely detonate bombs according to Major Christopher J. Douglas. “It’s just a good thing that we have our young warriors that have so much dedication and professionalism. It’s truly a reward at the end of a long day that these Marines found something like this,” explained the 1990 Marist College graduate. According to Douglas, the Marines were setting up a base to conduct patrols from while they conduct clearing operations through their sector of the city. For Bodkin, this operation marks his third mission in five months because he was manning the forward operating base at Camp Hit, where as a mortar man, he was responsible for returning mortar fire from insurgents in the city. “I was doing my part up on the outskirts of the city, but now that we are moving into the city it’s a chance for me to get out here and see the impact Marines have had on the people,” continued the 2002 Morgantown High School graduate. “It’s great to shake hands with the locals and hear them thank you for being here and defending them against insurgents.” Bodkin also said that finding the phone boxes was a morale booster for him. “We were working all day and didn’t really find anything until the end of the day,” he said pointing to the stack of boxes. “It lifted my spirits and made the long day well worth it.” According to Bodkin, the find has motivated him to continue looking harder for more caches while he is involved in the operation. “I want us to find more caches, just like any other Marine, because the more things we find the less they (the insurgents) can use against us,” he said.