thedrifter
05-27-07, 04:30 AM
Holiday will have special meaning for soldier's wife
By Scott Sexton
JOURNAL COLUMNIST
Sunday, May 27, 2007
YADKINVILLE — Like many Americans, Tracy Clevenger will take some time on Memorial Day to think about the soldiers and Marines who’ve died in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent weeks. Because she’s married to a soldier, Clevenger feels the losses more acutely than most.
Despite the somber emotions that come with Memorial Day in wartime, Clevenger will also feel relief and more than a little joy this weekend.
At some point this morning, Sgt. Toby Clevenger, U.S. Army Reserves, will take the first steps on his journey home from Iraq after nearly a year away from home.
After a few days decompressing in Kuwait, he should be back in Yadkin County for good, where he will finally get a chance to get to know his new son Alex, a healthy 8-month-old who was born while he was away. And for that, Tracy Clevenger is grateful.
“He’s supposed to back here on the 31st,” she said while tending to older son Blake, an active 4-year-old. “I pray every night for (the troops), especially with the families that just found out about the missing soldiers.”
Pitching in
David Adams, Tracy Clevenger’s dad, is excited about his son-in-law’s homecoming, too. A few thousand people heard it in his voice the night of May 20, when he was handed a microphone after his win in one of the Sportsman Division races at Bowman Gray Stadium.
“We’re happy about this win and all, but we’re really happy that my son-in-law will be home from Iraq soon,” he said from his perch atop a mobile podium stand near the finish line.
When they realized what Adams had just said, many in the crowd of a few thousand stood to cheer — an especially gratifying response considering what his family has been through supporting their soldier.
Other than a three-week leave when Alex was 3 months old, Clevenger has been gone. That didn’t stop or even slow the daily grind — the chores that two could get done together but were nearly impossible with an infant and a 4-year-old.
Tracy’s mother helps out by taking care of the boys two days a week while she’s at work; another relative takes the other three days. Her brother mows the 2 acres in her yard, and Adams deals with other tasks.
“Everybody pitches in,” Adams said. “It’s been hard on everybody since he’s been gone, but you find a way so he doesn’t have to worry about the small stuff.”
That’s the way it goes with this war. Most of us have no clue what the soldiers and their families are going through, as a relatively small number of troops do what the country has asked.
Other than the obligatory yellow-ribbon car magnets, there is no larger community sense of sacrifice — or loss when soldiers die. We wring our hands over gas prices and go on our merry way unaffected.
Empty seats
For most of Clevenger’s tour with the 352nd Headquarters Battalion, he was in Mosul, in what most of us would have considered in past wars to be relative safety. But because he’s in Iraq, and because of the tactics used by insurgents, there is no such thing as relative safety.
“I was worried a few times when they were getting mortared,” Tracy Clevenger said. “I’d be talking to him (by Web cams), and he’d say, ‘I’ve got to go. We’re getting hit.’ Then I wouldn’t hear anything for three or four hours.”
When he heard about those attacks, Adams worried, too. He watches the news, keeps up with all the developments in Iraq and thinks about the other soldiers there.
“It’s not like here, where you don’t have to worry about somebody driving up near you,” he said. “You can’t turn your back over there; you can’t trust anybody.
“I saw when those guys up in Boone (Army National Guard 1451st Transportation Co.) came back. At their welcome-home ceremony, they had two empty seats in the auditorium for their guys who got killed. It makes you think.”
■ Scott Sexton can be reached at 727-7481 or at ssexton@wsjournal.com.
Ellie
By Scott Sexton
JOURNAL COLUMNIST
Sunday, May 27, 2007
YADKINVILLE — Like many Americans, Tracy Clevenger will take some time on Memorial Day to think about the soldiers and Marines who’ve died in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent weeks. Because she’s married to a soldier, Clevenger feels the losses more acutely than most.
Despite the somber emotions that come with Memorial Day in wartime, Clevenger will also feel relief and more than a little joy this weekend.
At some point this morning, Sgt. Toby Clevenger, U.S. Army Reserves, will take the first steps on his journey home from Iraq after nearly a year away from home.
After a few days decompressing in Kuwait, he should be back in Yadkin County for good, where he will finally get a chance to get to know his new son Alex, a healthy 8-month-old who was born while he was away. And for that, Tracy Clevenger is grateful.
“He’s supposed to back here on the 31st,” she said while tending to older son Blake, an active 4-year-old. “I pray every night for (the troops), especially with the families that just found out about the missing soldiers.”
Pitching in
David Adams, Tracy Clevenger’s dad, is excited about his son-in-law’s homecoming, too. A few thousand people heard it in his voice the night of May 20, when he was handed a microphone after his win in one of the Sportsman Division races at Bowman Gray Stadium.
“We’re happy about this win and all, but we’re really happy that my son-in-law will be home from Iraq soon,” he said from his perch atop a mobile podium stand near the finish line.
When they realized what Adams had just said, many in the crowd of a few thousand stood to cheer — an especially gratifying response considering what his family has been through supporting their soldier.
Other than a three-week leave when Alex was 3 months old, Clevenger has been gone. That didn’t stop or even slow the daily grind — the chores that two could get done together but were nearly impossible with an infant and a 4-year-old.
Tracy’s mother helps out by taking care of the boys two days a week while she’s at work; another relative takes the other three days. Her brother mows the 2 acres in her yard, and Adams deals with other tasks.
“Everybody pitches in,” Adams said. “It’s been hard on everybody since he’s been gone, but you find a way so he doesn’t have to worry about the small stuff.”
That’s the way it goes with this war. Most of us have no clue what the soldiers and their families are going through, as a relatively small number of troops do what the country has asked.
Other than the obligatory yellow-ribbon car magnets, there is no larger community sense of sacrifice — or loss when soldiers die. We wring our hands over gas prices and go on our merry way unaffected.
Empty seats
For most of Clevenger’s tour with the 352nd Headquarters Battalion, he was in Mosul, in what most of us would have considered in past wars to be relative safety. But because he’s in Iraq, and because of the tactics used by insurgents, there is no such thing as relative safety.
“I was worried a few times when they were getting mortared,” Tracy Clevenger said. “I’d be talking to him (by Web cams), and he’d say, ‘I’ve got to go. We’re getting hit.’ Then I wouldn’t hear anything for three or four hours.”
When he heard about those attacks, Adams worried, too. He watches the news, keeps up with all the developments in Iraq and thinks about the other soldiers there.
“It’s not like here, where you don’t have to worry about somebody driving up near you,” he said. “You can’t turn your back over there; you can’t trust anybody.
“I saw when those guys up in Boone (Army National Guard 1451st Transportation Co.) came back. At their welcome-home ceremony, they had two empty seats in the auditorium for their guys who got killed. It makes you think.”
■ Scott Sexton can be reached at 727-7481 or at ssexton@wsjournal.com.
Ellie