deadlinediva's Blog

Back in 2003, in the early days of the War in Iraq, my photographer, Chris Weaver, and I drove to Salisbury to see the members of the 846 Transportation Unit - an Army Reserve Unit - deploy for the first time to Iraq. In the days that followed, we did story after story of their wives and children, husbands and parents, as they waited and worried... feared and fretted. Then, when they returned home, we were there again... and again.

Now, for the third time, the 846 is returning to war. Although many of the first group have retired or left the military, we still saw some familiar faces. Like Brenda Reid. She's a mother of three. The first time we met her, her kids were one, 10 and 11. I remember her sister had not gotten to the ceremony in time and Brenda had to hand the child over to me, so she could line up. That baby is now 6. And once again, Brenda's sister is taking care of her kids. Brenda, who works as a counselor in a boy's rehabilitation home, says she has 12 more years before she can retire. And like the strong soldier she is, she's not afraid. She takes a lot of honor in the fact she is serving her country.

So does Marvin Brooks of Walkertown. In his civilian life, Brooks works as a lineman for Duke Energy. But driving a truck is his passion. He jokes about the last time he was in Iraq that word got out he was an electrician and he ended up fixing a lot of generators. He expects to do the same thing this time, and that's okay with him.

Then there's Travis Cox - what a trip he is! He and his brother used to have a gas station down the road from our TV station. Travis loves his job. He says he can't wait to run the trucks up and down the roads of Iraq. Travis is probably the unit's biggest extravert. His sense of humor helps keep morale up.

We also met Freddy McCall of Asheboro. For Freddy, the hardest thing about leaving is leaving his dog Sarin behind. He has raised the 7-year-old Shepherd/Chow mix since she was found as an abandoned puppy. She was there at his going-away ceremony, too. Lucky for Freddy and Sarin, his neighbor, John, has agreed to care for her.

But the group will be in goods. Captain Emilio Rodriguez, a native of Puerto Rico, is the unit commander. He promised family members in attendance he would take great care of each soldier, and told the soldiers, if they didn't write letters home at least twice a week, they'd be in big trouble! (Of course he was joking!) And even though Rodriguez is a strong leader, he, too, shed a few tears as he said goodbye to his little boy Andre.

No matter your stand on the war itself, prayers for these soldiers over the next 400 days of deployment will be covetted.