VA ARNG Deploys for the sandbox

And our hearts, prayers and hopes go with them.

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This past weekend (and the 2 weeks leading up to them) was especially difficult for me and my family to deal with. The linked article discusses the Farewell ceremony for the 2nd Squadron, 183rd Cavalry Regiment as they deploy to Kuwait and Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. With them, goes my middle brother. This past weekend, we had the opportunity to spend the afternoon with him on Saturday. It was a nice, quiet , relaxing afternoon spent as a family, just doing family things. The farewell ceremony the next morning, and the subsequent flight to Mississippi for pre-deployment training, and everything that follows after that went unmentioned. None of us could forget them, but, like the elephant in the corner, no one wanted to mention it and ruin the aura of peace that surrounded us.

This link is a montage of pictures from this weekend, and earlier this spring. The kids in the pictures are mine. For those that are interested, I'm the one in the pictures with the dark glasses, short beard, and pony tail. It's something that my wife put together as a tribute and a reminder.

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Now, at the farewell ceremony, I realized something. I realized that the governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, even though I agree with almost nothing that he's done or believes in (politically), he has earned a small measure of respect in my eyes. He could've used the ceremony as a place for political grandstanding and played games as usual. He didn't. In the few moments that he spoke, he made a heartfelt commitment to the families that were staying behind. He expressed the same feelings that most of us in the audience felt. Fear - for the unknown and the health and safety of our troop. Hope - that they can accomplish what they need to do in safety and that they'll return to us. Pride - pride in the fact that these citizen soldiers, in a unit tradition that goes back, unbroken, to the Portsmouth Rifles company of the Revolutionary War, once more stepped up to do their duty when called by Country and Commonwealth.

As for the war, I don't know anymore what I believe about it. I know that the initial intent good, right, and necessary. Sadaam Hussein was a blight on humanity that needed to be removed - for his own peoples' sake, and, indirectly, our own. Now? I see the good that our soldiers are doing, and I see that it is right and necessary. I see that our soldiers are doing what American's have done in centuries past. When called to fight - they fight. When called to help, they help. When called to build, they build. And in all of these, they do it to the best of their ability - and amazing things are accomplished as a result.

Watching the news coverage, you get an impersonal view of the war - body counts, explosions, violence and hysteria. This weekend reminded me that the soldiers that we send over there are not just numbers. They have names, faces, families, hopes, dreams and desires. They have foibles and flaws, but they also have strengths.

When you think of all that we have around us that we take for granted, think about the folks that help us keep these, and try to bring those same freedoms to others. Remember folks like my brother, TW's husband Adrian, Tova's husband, and other's around JU that I've forgotten. Think about folks like ModerateMan and others that have served in the past to help us. They're a part of the reason that sites like JU can exist in the first place.

To all the soldiers of the 2nd/183rd Cav Squadron (Recon), our thoughts and prayers go with you. May the time fly as on wings of angels so that you return to us in the same way you left us - with heads held high, full in the knowledge that what you do is a right and necessary thing, so that others don't have to.

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God bless your family, and to your soldier: be very safe and come home soon!

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God bless the ARNG and you brother.

Sorry I do not share your opinion of Ted Matthews.

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We recently lost a local youth and a buddy I work with's son left for there just last Monday.

As for the war, I don't know anymore what I believe about it.

Me either. My prayers are with you and yours.

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LW:

(who sings that song on the photo site? it's very moving.)

That songs a recent one done by Jewel. It's called "Life Uncommon". It's one that my wife's been listening to off and on over the last couple weeks. The really interesting thing is, she didn't have to tweak any timings on the photos to get them to line up with appropriate phrases in the song. Everything just flowed together.

Sometimes, she's so talented (creatively, like this) that she absolutely blows my mind. Other times, she can't see it in herself and makes me just want to throttle her (in all love and devotion, of course

) until she does see it.

Man, i need a hankie.

I've managed to be stoic and not tear up at all (even if it means that I just get even quieter than normal) during the last couple of days. Watching this yesterday after my wife put it together ... I just broke down.

My kids have been taking it extra hard. They all adore their uncle. My middle son (the one with the scar that runs across his head. You can see it in a couple of the photos through the buzz cut. I'll call him M) is the one that was closest to him. In fact, he's the kid that takes after him the most. He looks like him, behaves like him. He's also our autistic child. After we left the ceremony, my family and my parents stopped at a McDonald's there in Portsmouth for a quick bite of lunch. After, eating, M decided that he'd had enough change and would just sit against the wall outside the restaurant in an autistic funk. It took us almost 20 minutes to coax him out of it and into our van for the hour long drive back home. Just when you think your kids don't understand, they surprise you. The other kids decided (on their own) to let him have the middle seat to himself. It was the song in the montage that finally brought him out of his funk. I couldn't help but smile at him when he started singing along with it when it played on the iPod.

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