R&R for Military Couples

The troops are coming! The troops are coming!

Children, parents, siblings - all want to welcome their loved ones home. It is very important for husbands and wives to re-establish contact at this critical point in their reunions. Fortunately, there are some kind people who want to help you do just that.

Check out the list of B&B's, Guest Cottages, Inns, and Hotels from Fayetteville and other communities within Central Texas that have joined together to support returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their spouses by donating 1 or 2 night stays at their establishments. Each proprietor is thankful for veterans' service to our country and feels honored to recognize the sacrifices of their time, talents, and in many cases, health. Several have loved ones serving as well.
Project Information and Criteria:

• Eligible if on active duty deployed since 2006 to present -or- 1 month from new deployment.
• Availability is limited at each establishment, so if one choice doesn't work, do try others on the list.
• No multiple bookings - only one stay per couple.
• Identification - deployment order or something to verify service.
• No children - please do not ask to bring children. This offer is for a couple's getaway.
• Breakfast - Some establishments furnish breakfast and others do not.
  

The towns represented are about 1 hour from Houston & Austin and 2 hours from San Antonio.

Take advantage of this opportunity early in your reunion and get to know each other again. Both of you will have changed.

Please, after you return from the getaway to the normal world, send a note of thanks.

Communication

How do we keep up with Gunner while he is in Iraq? It is not easy. As his m-in-law, I encourage him to direct his phone calls and letters to his wife and children. I can get my info from them and he doesn't need to divert his brief opportunities for communication.

My father served in WWII and Korea and one of my brothers served in Vietnam. We lived on tenterhooks in those days of snail mail communication. Onion skin paper for airmail letters that arrived infrequently and in bunches, bore news that was old by the time we got it. Of course, not much news was allowed and the ink almost obscured the writing because Dad wrote on both side of the thin paper. It was enough just knowing he could find a few moments to write and that he was still alive. No TV news in the early years. Mother and I walked two miles to the Post Office twice each day, hoping for a letter. After receiving one, we would rest a couple of days before starting our trek again. Our images came from newspaper photos and MovieTone News. Now, the troops have some access to e-mail and, sometimes, webcams. We watched in awe as we saw the war unfold.

The best way we have to keep up with what is going on now, is through Babcock. Bob Babcock is relentless in searching out pertinent news and passing it on to those of us who must wait behind.

From Babcock's Newsletter:

"...There is nothing on this green earth that is stronger than the US Army, because there is nothing on this green earth that is stronger than a US Army Soldier..."

For the latest news, pictures, and information from 4ID, regularly check: http://pao.hood.army.mil/4ID/index.html

Baghdad 4 Day weather forecast - beginning March 14:

Fri, Hi - 76, Lo - 60, mostly sunny;

Sat, Hi - 72, Lo - 50, sunny;

Sun, Hi - 76, Lo - 50, partly cloudy;

Mon, Hi - 80, Lo - 54, mostly sunny.

300 From 4th ID 1st Brigade Continue With Deployment
Posted on: Tuesday, March 11, 2008, 3:22 AM
By Amanda Kim Stairrett

Killeen Daily Herald
About 300 Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team left Fort Hood for the Middle East on Monday morning. The Soldiers are set to serve 15 months in Iraq. Soldiers of the 1st Brigade are expected to continue leaving Fort Hood through the end of the week. It was announced in late October that the 1st Brigade's deployment would be pushed back several months. Those Soldiers were originally scheduled to leave Fort Hood in November and December. The change was likely based on the then-current situation in Iraq, and with drawdowns and re-alignments, the Army didn't need 1st Brigade until March, Lt. Col. Steven Stover, a brigade spokesman, said in October.

Friends and Family members who would want to receive updates, send first and last names from the email address they want me to use, and ask to be added to my distribution list. Anyone who wants to receive these direct from me is more than welcome to be put onto my distribution list. Babcock224@aol.com

Bob Babcock - "Deeds not Words"President, Deeds Publishing - http://www.deedspublishing.com/ President, Americans Remembered - http://www.americansremembered.org/
Past President, 22nd Infantry Regiment Society - http://www.22ndinfantry.org/
Past President, Historian, National 4th Infantry Div Assn - http://www.4thinfantry.org/PO Box 682222, Marietta, GA 30068 - Phone 678-480-4422 (cell)

We Can Start the Countdown

Gunner left today. Of course, it wasn't that simple. He was supposed to leave at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, so we all gathered and hurried to wait, just as Army families have been doing for years, but his deployment was delayed. Then it was delayed again and everyone finally got a couple of hours sleep. Deployment departure finally occurred about 11 a.m today. You will notice there are no women here. This is a combat unit.

Today DD#2, Gunner's Mom & Dad, and I, stood around and bantered for 3 hours. It was decided not to put the children through another day of show-up-and-change, so they were all dropped at school. His Mom & Dad had already taken 1 1/2 days off work and we were still in limbo, so they had to leave. Finally, we went into the gym - troops in one door and families in another. Ribbons of tape separated two areas in the gym where loved ones said their final goodbyes - troops on one side of the tape and families on the other.

Em is old enough to understand now that Daddy will be gone for a while and Abs is close to that age. Of course, Dad is gone a lot - to the field, CQ all night, training in another state, and now his 3rd tour to Iraq. Gunner is sad to go but is well-trained for his job, has lots of equipment, and reacts automatically. Jr. slammed a drawer behind Gunner's head this morning and Gunner dropped to the floor. While our soldier has been waiting, he has been mentally preparing.

A conversation with Em told another part of the story when she lamented that her Dad would be leaving again.
"Well, he has been home a long time now and it is time for him to go and let someone else come home. He has been home 15 months. That's a long time," her mother explained.
"But he will be gone a long time," Em cried.
"Only 15 months," her mother said, "that's not so long."

Well, time is relative, isn't it?

"If the Army wanted you to have a family, they would have issued you one!"

When the two pilots prepared to leave my home, I thanked them for their service to our country. One of them had a request.

“Everyone talks about praying for the troops,” he said, “but I would request they include our families in their prayers. Our wives are trying to care for children and homes under great stress. (Wiry fellow) has just discovered his dad has terminal cancer. We often feel we are not there when we are most needed.”

He is right, We need to lift the families of our troops in prayer, but I am not sure that is enough. We should extend our support to provide something more concrete – a couple of hours a week babysitting so the parent can have some respite, providing a casserole for an evening meal, taking the family members out to lunch and letting them voice their concerns – whatever can be done to make life easier for the family member left behind so the service member can concentrate more fully on his / her job.

Deployment is very hard for the families who live on military facilities but they at least have people around them who are in a similar situation. It is never easy to say farewell to your loved one for a year or more at a time, no matter how accustomed to it you are. Service members who live in the community and have been deployed with Reserve or National Guard units leave behind families that are suddenly immersed in a new environment. Nevetheless, these families have a whole community that should rally around them and assist as needed.

DD, who lives at Ft. Hood, was eight months pregnant when she got a notice in the heat of the summer that her grass HAD to be mowed IMMEDIATELY. I went to help her, but even the two of us, pulling with all our might, couldn't get the lawnmower to start. What a wonderful surprise when a church group arrived the next day. All the members went in groups, door to door, offering to help with whatever was needed. Energetic young people mowed lawns, helped clean houses, weeded flowerbeds, played with children, whatever the individual homemaker needed was performed with a smile and enthusiasm.

We will continue to pray. Prayers are wonderful, but sometimes action speaks louder than words.

"They also serve who only stand and wait. " - John Milton