thedrifter
12-09-05, 02:04 PM
Columbus native returns from Iraq, again
Picayune
COLUMBUS (AP) - Gunnery Sgt. Gilbert Sanders is home from Iraq - again.
The Columbus native has served in Iraq three times since he joined the Marines 17 years ago, once during Operation Desert Storm and twice during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“I was really up for whatever was going to happen,” he recalled. “The guys that have been there before are more seasoned.”
Sanders says he wasn't surprised when he was deployed during the Persian Gulf War in 1990, nor was he surprised when the call came again just before Operation Iraqi Freedom.
When the third call came in January 2005, just after he had returned home from a deployment in Africa, Sanders says he had a harder time breaking the news to his wife, Angela.
“It's hard, especially for her - she has it worse than I do. She's got to take care of the kids, and then she's worrying about me,” he explained.
“You just want to say, ‘Can't they send somebody else who hasn't been?'” admitted Angela Sanders, adding that focusing on taking care of the couple's four children helped her get through deployment after deployment. “You have to get in a routine If you slow down for one second, then it's going get tough.”
During the last three years, Gilbert Sanders served twice in Iraq and once in Africa, while his family stayed behind at a base in North Carolina. In fact, he estimates he's spent 30 months of his 3-year-old daughter's life deployed overseas.
“We showed her his picture, and she would look at it and kiss it every day,” Angela Sanders recalled. “She learned how to say ‘Daddy-rack' - Daddy in Iraq.”
Gilbert Sanders also left behind family in Columbus during his deployments, including his mother and brother.
“A lot of people would say, ‘How can you stand it?' But you accept it,” said his mother, Sarah Sanders, a retired MUW instructor. “I just know he's doing what he's dedicated his life to do.”
Sarah Sanders keeps a map of Iraq that her son gave her with circles drawn around the places where he's served. She's followed each of his deployments closely since he was first called to duty nearly 15 years ago.
“I lived by the TV. You'd watch thinking, ‘Maybe I'll see him.' I've got videotapes like you wouldn't believe. You see that stack over there?” she asked, pointing so a shelf holding some three dozen tapes. “That's just from Nasiriyah I've got three times that from Desert Storm.”
Angela Sanders took a different approach when it came to handling the stress of Gilbert's deployment, trying her best to keep from following the news too closely.
“If you watch TV or anything like that, it'll break you, “ she said.
During his most recent duty in Iraq, Gilbert was able to communicate with his family through e-mails and an occasional phone call.
“He called us and I got to talk to him,” said Gilbert's 9-year-old son, Alexander. “I was happy because I got to hear his voice.”
In September, Gilbert Sanders was once again reunited with his family, and this time, he won't be leaving again anytime soon. He delayed his retirement from the Marine Corps in order to keep from being deployed for a fourth time in three years. The family is staying in Columbus until Dec. 27, when they'll move to a base in Okinawa, Japan.
“It's great to be home again,” Gilbert Sanders said. “We really needed a vacation.”
“It all worked out. Now we can take a deep breath,” Angela Sanders added.
Since he returned to his family, Gilbert has been making up for lost time with his children.
“We get to do fun stuff together, like wrestling and Scouts,” Alexander said.
Even though she insists she never really worried about her son, Sarah Sanders is relieved the deployments are finally over.
“It's always great when you hear the words, ‘I'm coming home,'” she said.
Ellie
Picayune
COLUMBUS (AP) - Gunnery Sgt. Gilbert Sanders is home from Iraq - again.
The Columbus native has served in Iraq three times since he joined the Marines 17 years ago, once during Operation Desert Storm and twice during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“I was really up for whatever was going to happen,” he recalled. “The guys that have been there before are more seasoned.”
Sanders says he wasn't surprised when he was deployed during the Persian Gulf War in 1990, nor was he surprised when the call came again just before Operation Iraqi Freedom.
When the third call came in January 2005, just after he had returned home from a deployment in Africa, Sanders says he had a harder time breaking the news to his wife, Angela.
“It's hard, especially for her - she has it worse than I do. She's got to take care of the kids, and then she's worrying about me,” he explained.
“You just want to say, ‘Can't they send somebody else who hasn't been?'” admitted Angela Sanders, adding that focusing on taking care of the couple's four children helped her get through deployment after deployment. “You have to get in a routine If you slow down for one second, then it's going get tough.”
During the last three years, Gilbert Sanders served twice in Iraq and once in Africa, while his family stayed behind at a base in North Carolina. In fact, he estimates he's spent 30 months of his 3-year-old daughter's life deployed overseas.
“We showed her his picture, and she would look at it and kiss it every day,” Angela Sanders recalled. “She learned how to say ‘Daddy-rack' - Daddy in Iraq.”
Gilbert Sanders also left behind family in Columbus during his deployments, including his mother and brother.
“A lot of people would say, ‘How can you stand it?' But you accept it,” said his mother, Sarah Sanders, a retired MUW instructor. “I just know he's doing what he's dedicated his life to do.”
Sarah Sanders keeps a map of Iraq that her son gave her with circles drawn around the places where he's served. She's followed each of his deployments closely since he was first called to duty nearly 15 years ago.
“I lived by the TV. You'd watch thinking, ‘Maybe I'll see him.' I've got videotapes like you wouldn't believe. You see that stack over there?” she asked, pointing so a shelf holding some three dozen tapes. “That's just from Nasiriyah I've got three times that from Desert Storm.”
Angela Sanders took a different approach when it came to handling the stress of Gilbert's deployment, trying her best to keep from following the news too closely.
“If you watch TV or anything like that, it'll break you, “ she said.
During his most recent duty in Iraq, Gilbert was able to communicate with his family through e-mails and an occasional phone call.
“He called us and I got to talk to him,” said Gilbert's 9-year-old son, Alexander. “I was happy because I got to hear his voice.”
In September, Gilbert Sanders was once again reunited with his family, and this time, he won't be leaving again anytime soon. He delayed his retirement from the Marine Corps in order to keep from being deployed for a fourth time in three years. The family is staying in Columbus until Dec. 27, when they'll move to a base in Okinawa, Japan.
“It's great to be home again,” Gilbert Sanders said. “We really needed a vacation.”
“It all worked out. Now we can take a deep breath,” Angela Sanders added.
Since he returned to his family, Gilbert has been making up for lost time with his children.
“We get to do fun stuff together, like wrestling and Scouts,” Alexander said.
Even though she insists she never really worried about her son, Sarah Sanders is relieved the deployments are finally over.
“It's always great when you hear the words, ‘I'm coming home,'” she said.
Ellie