The following is told from the perspective of 10News reporter Bob Lawrence:

Five years ago Wednesday night, the U.S. and other coalition forces crossed the Kuwait border and war with Iraq began.

In the build-up to the war, 10News was on the ground in Kuwait with reports on San Diego-based Marines who were waiting it out.

Photojournalist Richard Klein and I set out to find San Diego-based Marines who had been in the Kuwaiti desert for weeks, wondering if what they were preparing for would ever come.

We found them in a vast stretch of powder-like sand in the Kuwaiti desert, practicing maneuvers.

They were in weapons training and more but essentially in a stretch of sand, they waited.

"We were on the frontlines most of the time, right on the border with Iraq and from time to time if we didn't get the order to go we'd come back to the main camp," said ex-Marine Nathaniel Donnelly.

Five years later, Donnelly is a student at San Diego State University, but he's not done with Iraq.

In the desert, we caught up with the 7th Engineering Battalion from Camp Pendleton. With their anthrax vaccinations still fresh, they too waited, and home was never far from their thoughts.

"Hello, San Diego, from Kuwait!" the group said in unison.

The time difference between San Diego and Kuwait was 11 hours, which made for a very weary looking reporter at times.

In Kuwait City, all was calm as everyone went about their daily business.

But that changed dramatically with President George W. Bush's ultimatum that Saddam Hussein and his sons leave Iraq within 48 hours.

The countdown to war had begun.

Being 11 hours ahead, it was the early hours of March 20 when things lit off.

Klein said, "You know, there were those eerie moments in the middle of the night, and it was tough to tell whether it was day or night, and at one point I'm sure you remember the night the Scud (missile) went over our hotel."

We wondered about the Marines we had met and what lie ahead for them.

When Iraq fell six weeks later, many felt it was over.

Donnelly left the Marines and started school, but he's going back. He is rejoining the Marines as an officer.

"From what I've learned in school and the politics behind it, the religion and the culture, I think I can really make an impact," said Donnelly.

Donnelly said he is hoping to get accepted to officer's candidate school in May.

Local Marines Make Kuwaiti Desert Home

In January 2003, Camp Pendleton's 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit landed in Kuwait.

For the 7th Engineering Support Battalion, the Kuwaiti desert would become home.

Wind, water bottles and weapons were all constant companions.

While they waited in the desert, the air wing from Miramar operated almost around-the-clock in patrolling the skies.

Back home in the U.S., there was talk of weapons of mass destruction, ultimatums and then the green light.

President Bush gave the go-ahead, much to the dismay of many, including retired military officers.

"Certainly Afghanistan was inevitable. I didn't think Iraq was inevitable and we've discussed this. I didn't think it was necessary," said Lt. Col. Thomas Richards, USMC (Ret.).

But the order was given, and while thousands of Marines headed north, Iraqi missiles headed south.

Air raid sirens and hotel alarms became the norm as people scrambled into shelters.

And by the time we got on the air, all those we met in the desert and at the air base were moving forward.

Five years later, Klein still captures the news through the lens of his camera, but the thought of the Marines we met are never far away.

"How many of them made it through successfully? How many of them are still around? How many are still in the military? How many are still on another tour?" said Klein.

Richards never thought going into Iraq was the right call, saying it took the focus away from the initial mission -- Afghanistan.

"And now as we look back we find out we did not finish the job in Afghanistan and that is spinning perhaps out of control," said Richards.

For the first anniversary in 2004, we went back to the 7th Engineering Support Battalion at Camp Pendleton.

"As soon as we got back, we got word that we were going back to Iraq and that hit us pretty hard," said one Marine.

Many of the Marines have been back 2 to 3 times, but stand ready to answer the call.

Many were willing to answer the call and many paid the ultimate price.

330 Marines from Camp Pendleton have been killed during the war, and at least 10 Marines from Miramar died in Iraq.

We don't mean to downplay the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard or National Guard's role or sacrifice, but 5 years ago we went to Kuwait to focus on San Diego Marines.