thedrifter
01-15-07, 07:00 AM
The call of duty on their minds
BY SOPHIA CHANG AND GRAHAM RAYMAN
Newsday Staff Writers
There are two clocks ticking in Chris Rodriguez's head.
One is counting down to his March 1 retirement from the Army, where Rodriguez has spent 28 years in active service as a military policeman, including two tours in Iraq.
His other clock is marking the moments since Wednesday, when President George W. Bush announced that he wants to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq, starting as early as today.
The question is which clock will run out first.
"They can call me back, of course," said Rodriguez, 46, of Long Beach. "I don't want to go back because I'm ready to start a new career. But if it's a national emergency, I will of course go back."
Joseph Castellana, of Coram, already knew he would be off to Iraq with the Marine Corps in August. He got his deployment orders for Al Asad Air Base, just north of Baghdad.
"I love coming home, and I hate leaving," said Castellana by phone from the New River Air Station in Jacksonville, N.C., where he is a helicopter mechanic with the 2nd Marine Air Wing.
His mother, Darlene Castellana, wears one of his dog tags and a bracelet for her other son, Alan, a Marine who is still in military training school.
"My heart fell" after hearing the president's speech, said Darlene Castellana, a postal carrier from Coram.
"I feel like I went in the Marines, too," she said. "I never realized what the families go through when these guys go off."
Linda Geremia has a local network of military parents she counts on as the date of her son's February deployment to Iraq comes closer. Her son Matthew Geremia, 20, is currently stationed in Okinawa, Japan, with the U.S. Marines and assigned to a mobile Stinger missile unit.
"We mainly talk about comforting each other to keep our morale up," said Geremia, 51, of South Setauket.
The waiting game affects not just Evel Morales, a reservist, but also his family in Queens.
A military policeman with the Army Reserves 98th MP division, Morales, 42, served in Iraq at the Abu Ghraib prison from December 2004 to December 2005. Though reserve units normally have 24 months of rest between deployments, this policy is also now being reviewed by government officials.
So far, Morales has not heard if his unit will be redeployed before he, too, can retire in June.
"Everybody is very tense, very nervous about the situation," said wife, Zorayda, 43. "When I heard the announcement, my heart was jumping. I am just waiting to see what happens."
She has not told their two daughters that their father might have to leave their home in Bellerose, Queens, for Iraq again. "I'm not going to tell them until I know for sure," she said.
Morales said he understands Bush's decision, even though it might mean his return to Iraq.
"In my opinion, I believe he was right," said Morales, a New York Police detective. "If we leave, it's going to be a big mess. It's going to almost be a civil war. Now we're going to stay and work, the way we should have done it from the get-go."
But none of this tactical logic lessens the sting of separation from his family, he said.
"I love the Army, I love my country. If my country told me to go, I would go," Morales said. "But you see the pain in my daughters' eyes when you tell them you got to go."
The first time he was in Iraq, Rodriguez, the military policeman from Long Beach, said his unit spent almost 200 consecutive days under enemy fire.
"I've been in several engagements, and that's part of war and what we're doing," he said.
Rodriguez said he was awarded two Bronze Stars for heroic acts during his tours in Iraq, where he was stationed at Abu Ghraib with the 306th MP division deployed from Uniondale.
Since he came home in December 2005, Rodriguez has been looking for a new career. But the career soldier in him will respond to the call of duty, retirement or no retirement, he said.
"I will serve with honor and distinction," Rodriguez said.
Ellie
BY SOPHIA CHANG AND GRAHAM RAYMAN
Newsday Staff Writers
There are two clocks ticking in Chris Rodriguez's head.
One is counting down to his March 1 retirement from the Army, where Rodriguez has spent 28 years in active service as a military policeman, including two tours in Iraq.
His other clock is marking the moments since Wednesday, when President George W. Bush announced that he wants to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq, starting as early as today.
The question is which clock will run out first.
"They can call me back, of course," said Rodriguez, 46, of Long Beach. "I don't want to go back because I'm ready to start a new career. But if it's a national emergency, I will of course go back."
Joseph Castellana, of Coram, already knew he would be off to Iraq with the Marine Corps in August. He got his deployment orders for Al Asad Air Base, just north of Baghdad.
"I love coming home, and I hate leaving," said Castellana by phone from the New River Air Station in Jacksonville, N.C., where he is a helicopter mechanic with the 2nd Marine Air Wing.
His mother, Darlene Castellana, wears one of his dog tags and a bracelet for her other son, Alan, a Marine who is still in military training school.
"My heart fell" after hearing the president's speech, said Darlene Castellana, a postal carrier from Coram.
"I feel like I went in the Marines, too," she said. "I never realized what the families go through when these guys go off."
Linda Geremia has a local network of military parents she counts on as the date of her son's February deployment to Iraq comes closer. Her son Matthew Geremia, 20, is currently stationed in Okinawa, Japan, with the U.S. Marines and assigned to a mobile Stinger missile unit.
"We mainly talk about comforting each other to keep our morale up," said Geremia, 51, of South Setauket.
The waiting game affects not just Evel Morales, a reservist, but also his family in Queens.
A military policeman with the Army Reserves 98th MP division, Morales, 42, served in Iraq at the Abu Ghraib prison from December 2004 to December 2005. Though reserve units normally have 24 months of rest between deployments, this policy is also now being reviewed by government officials.
So far, Morales has not heard if his unit will be redeployed before he, too, can retire in June.
"Everybody is very tense, very nervous about the situation," said wife, Zorayda, 43. "When I heard the announcement, my heart was jumping. I am just waiting to see what happens."
She has not told their two daughters that their father might have to leave their home in Bellerose, Queens, for Iraq again. "I'm not going to tell them until I know for sure," she said.
Morales said he understands Bush's decision, even though it might mean his return to Iraq.
"In my opinion, I believe he was right," said Morales, a New York Police detective. "If we leave, it's going to be a big mess. It's going to almost be a civil war. Now we're going to stay and work, the way we should have done it from the get-go."
But none of this tactical logic lessens the sting of separation from his family, he said.
"I love the Army, I love my country. If my country told me to go, I would go," Morales said. "But you see the pain in my daughters' eyes when you tell them you got to go."
The first time he was in Iraq, Rodriguez, the military policeman from Long Beach, said his unit spent almost 200 consecutive days under enemy fire.
"I've been in several engagements, and that's part of war and what we're doing," he said.
Rodriguez said he was awarded two Bronze Stars for heroic acts during his tours in Iraq, where he was stationed at Abu Ghraib with the 306th MP division deployed from Uniondale.
Since he came home in December 2005, Rodriguez has been looking for a new career. But the career soldier in him will respond to the call of duty, retirement or no retirement, he said.
"I will serve with honor and distinction," Rodriguez said.
Ellie