Tuesday, August 23, 2005 10:30 PM
ryanseals
There and back again
"I mean you go from one day to the next just wondering if you are going to be around the next day, what will happen, what will you do, will you be up to the task ...
"... will there be a mortar hit you on the fob ... will you get hit by an ied, vehicle ied ... will you get attacked ... how will you protect yourself ... your buddies ... if the shit hits the fan, exactly what will you do ...
"You learn to think that 24/7 for about 11 months ... you tend to get paranoid .... and to go from that to a very safe environment compared to what you are used to... it's going to be an emotional roller coaster."
***
Home. Homecoming. If there are more beautiful words in the English language, I don't know them. These, these are the words I've been thinking about for about 16 months now. These are the words I've loved more than any other for the more than a year my world has been colored in yellow -- yellow ribbons, yellow stickers, yellow magnets. These words to me signify hope, the future, relief from this holding pattern.
But they also make me wonder. I wonder what will happen when the National Guard soldiers return? They've been plucked from normal jobs, school, lives and put into an environment where they are constant, active soldiers. They worry about the things I quoted above. Then, they're suddenly not in that life anymore. They don't live on a base. They have drill once a month. Some don't even live in the same town, or state, as their unit. So what happens to them? How soon are they expected to get back into their old lives, or are they? When do they work again; how do they adapt and change back into a civilian when they haven't been for almost two years?
National Guardsmen, deployed for 18 months. There and back again. I just wonder. I don't have anything profound to say, but I just hope and pray we're all able to have patience and strength upon their return -- the families and the soldiers. I pray we're able to understand each other, support each other, love each other and give each what the other needs to adjust and settle.
I am so grateful to be able to think about this part of the deployment. Thanks to God for that.
-- Christy