Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Blake is gone now. He flew out Saturday night. I got a text message from him early Sunday morning that he was in Germany, but that's been the last I've heard to this point. He had always hoped that he would get to spend a little time there, but when he messaged me, he said they would be leaving out in a few hours. Blake finally made it to Germany.

We got a call from him about 2:30 on Saturday afternoon that he would be in a gym on Ft. Hood around 5:00 and that if we wanted to see him, we should get up there as soon as possible. We jumped in the car and drove like maniacs to get there. When we were about 4 streets from the gym, he called again to say that the busses had just pulled up and he thought they would be loading right away. As soon as we got there though, he was in a line of soldiers putting their backpacks in a box to see if it was small enough to be carried on the plane.

The gym wasn't full, but there were a lot of soldiers going over with him. It was all kind of sad. Young families saying good-bye for who knows how long. For some it was their third deployment; for others, like Blake, it was their first. The mood was hopeful though as they all knew that it would not be a full deployment and they would be back with their families in just a few months. I was particularly touched by a young family and two small boys who stood next to their dad while he was in formation to file out to get on the busses. The older boy seemed to know what was going on and wouldn't let go of dad. Mom had to come over and pull him off. No screaming though, just a lot of red eyes and some tears.

I was taken aback at the courage of these men and women who were leaving. To the last, they were all enjoying the time with their families, but not a single one was slow in filing in when it was time to board the busses. I had to remind myself that a few years ago, many of these were in high school watching impatiently while the world revolved around them, and now look at them!

I was also reminded of how much things have changed for the soldier since Vietnam. In all the times we look at our country and see how far we've fallen, this is one area we've matured and finally gotten it right. Our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are heroes, and they deserve to be treated as such. Finally, we're giving them the respect and treatment they deserve.

God bless America, and God bless our men and women wearing the uniform of this country!

Boss, da Plane...da Plane...

We're waiting on a plane. That's the newest word on the deployment. We had all thought that Thursday would be Blake's last day in country, but his flight has been pushed back to the weekend, so I got to visit him and go out for a big supper with him and some of his friends in the same career field last night. Blake ate like Dad was paying for it, but it was no time for beans and franks. It was a very entertaining and delicious night as I met some great young men and women who have known Blake for these past few months.

Blake's grandfather Harvey passed away last Monday. Blake got to be there to see him before he lost consciousness and slipped away. It was a very peaceful passing, but Blake received a Bible that was his grandfathers while he was in the Army. It is a pocket Bible that the soldiers kept that "would save your life". That might be a true statement as it has a metal plate in the cover that we are told would stop a bullet. What a neat piece of history to have passed down to the newest soldier in the family.

We're a little fuzzy at this point on how we will get our first communication from him once he's there, but as soon as we have an address, I'll post the info and you can email me for it. We know that some of the cell phones will work there, but you have to take out a loan to make a 5 minute call. The text messaging is a little cheaper, so that might be the way we go for awhile, but even that can add up quickly. I'm sure there are other ways we can stay in touch, including Blake's MySpace page, which he maintains religiously. We're not going to lose touch completely, that's for sure.

Well, I suppose the next update might be that he's landed in country, but we'll see. More news as I learn more.

Later.

Hurry Up and Wait

Blake will be deploying sometime around the 25th of this month. He will first fly into Germany and stay there for about 4 days. From there, he will fly on into his destination.

He's been coming home every weekend since he got to Ft. Hood to spend some time with his friends and family before he has to leave them for a year.

The good news to all of this is he will only have to spend about 9 months over there, since his unit got there in June. He's pretty excited about going, but he's upset that he won't get to see his friends for so long.

He's been doing a lot of training on the customs and procedures for living there. We sure wouldn't want to offend anyone.

Sorry this one is so short. We're all just pretty much spinning our wheels right now, so there's not too much to pass on.

More info forthcoming...