thedrifter
06-15-08, 11:25 AM
FATHER'S DAY: Celebrating from the field
By Brandi Watters
Sun, Jun 15 2008
— ANDERSON — Growing up, children often idolize their fathers, viewing them as heroes. For a few area fathers, those same children have grown to become heroes themselves.
This Father’s Day, two local fathers will celebrate the holiday as their sons serve in the military thousands of miles away, and one Anderson soldier will get some long-overdue quality time with his children.
Michael Widing of Anderson and Larry Wilson of Markleville are both proud fathers of Marines. Greg Vannatta of Anderson, recently came home after his second tour in Iraq, given a rare chance to spend Father’s Day with his three teenage boys.
Widing’s son, Zachary, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps during his sophomore year at Purdue University. “He came home and said, ‘Dad I’ve joined the Marines,’” Widing remembers. “He said, ‘Dad, you’re fiercely patriotic. I’m just following in your footsteps.’”
Since then, Widing has developed a sense of honor regarding his son’s decision. On Tuesday, upon hearing his son described as a “soldier,” Widing summoned the pride of a hardened military father and snapped, “My son’s a Marine!”
His pride in his son’s work has led Widing to develop strong opinions about patriotism.
“Many times it gets very blurred because when you protest against the war, it can transfer as anti-sentiment against the military,” Widing said. “They do their jobs day in and day out. They follow orders without question. We have a very talented military.”
This Father’s Day, Widing’s son will be safely stationed at a Marine base in North Carolina, but danger is just around the corner. In January, he will be deployed to Iraq for the third time.
“You pray your heart out every day for him and all the other young men and women overseas,” Widing said. “We know that there in harm’s way.”
Wilson, of Markleville, is the father of a 19-year-old Marine deployed to Iraq. Lance Cpl. Uriah Wilson dreamed of becoming a Marine from an early age, Wilson said.
“He was probably about 12 years old when he started talking about joining,” the elder Wilson said. “I knew this was in his mind, but I was not sure if he was going to follow through with it. I was quite apprehensive.”
His son enlisted in January 2007 and was deployed this April. Since then, his father has relied on instant messages and sporadic phone calls to learn of his son’s safety. Wilson’s son won’t be home for Father’s Day and recently informed the family that he would be out of contact for several months.
Wilson said this Father’s Day, he doesn’t expect to hear from his son, but thinks about him often.
“I’ll think about it; I’ll miss him,” Wilson said. “Raising teenagers, it’s not like you get a lot of lovin’ on Father’s day. Kids at that age, they’re not always real sentimental. Now that he’s in Iraq, he has a little more trouble keeping up with what day it is. I talked to him on Memorial Day, and he wasn’t sure what day it was.”
One area soldier will get a chance to see his children today. Sgt. 1st Class Greg Vannatta of Anderson has done two tours of Iraq due to his enlistment in the National Guard, forcing him to leave his wife and three children behind.
He was recently surprised with a newly remodeled home as part of the Anderson Extreme Home Makeover project.
Now that he’s home, his children will get to spend quality time with someone they’ve been missing for several months. The time apart can be hard on the children, Vannatta said.
“They don’t like it,” he said, “but they learn to deal with it I guess.”
Each of his three teenage sons, Cameron, Justin and Landon, deals with the separation differently.
“Justin’s the middle one, and he had a tough time last time,” Vannatta said. “I really don’t know (how they feel]) because they’re like me - they don’t openly talk about it a lot. With them all three being boys, they’re all three daddy’s boys.”
Though he will get to spend Father’s Day with his three boys, Vannatta will deploy again in a few weeks but said knowing that his family is safe in a new home will help the separation. “I won’t have to worry about them when I’m gone.”
Ellie
By Brandi Watters
Sun, Jun 15 2008
— ANDERSON — Growing up, children often idolize their fathers, viewing them as heroes. For a few area fathers, those same children have grown to become heroes themselves.
This Father’s Day, two local fathers will celebrate the holiday as their sons serve in the military thousands of miles away, and one Anderson soldier will get some long-overdue quality time with his children.
Michael Widing of Anderson and Larry Wilson of Markleville are both proud fathers of Marines. Greg Vannatta of Anderson, recently came home after his second tour in Iraq, given a rare chance to spend Father’s Day with his three teenage boys.
Widing’s son, Zachary, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps during his sophomore year at Purdue University. “He came home and said, ‘Dad I’ve joined the Marines,’” Widing remembers. “He said, ‘Dad, you’re fiercely patriotic. I’m just following in your footsteps.’”
Since then, Widing has developed a sense of honor regarding his son’s decision. On Tuesday, upon hearing his son described as a “soldier,” Widing summoned the pride of a hardened military father and snapped, “My son’s a Marine!”
His pride in his son’s work has led Widing to develop strong opinions about patriotism.
“Many times it gets very blurred because when you protest against the war, it can transfer as anti-sentiment against the military,” Widing said. “They do their jobs day in and day out. They follow orders without question. We have a very talented military.”
This Father’s Day, Widing’s son will be safely stationed at a Marine base in North Carolina, but danger is just around the corner. In January, he will be deployed to Iraq for the third time.
“You pray your heart out every day for him and all the other young men and women overseas,” Widing said. “We know that there in harm’s way.”
Wilson, of Markleville, is the father of a 19-year-old Marine deployed to Iraq. Lance Cpl. Uriah Wilson dreamed of becoming a Marine from an early age, Wilson said.
“He was probably about 12 years old when he started talking about joining,” the elder Wilson said. “I knew this was in his mind, but I was not sure if he was going to follow through with it. I was quite apprehensive.”
His son enlisted in January 2007 and was deployed this April. Since then, his father has relied on instant messages and sporadic phone calls to learn of his son’s safety. Wilson’s son won’t be home for Father’s Day and recently informed the family that he would be out of contact for several months.
Wilson said this Father’s Day, he doesn’t expect to hear from his son, but thinks about him often.
“I’ll think about it; I’ll miss him,” Wilson said. “Raising teenagers, it’s not like you get a lot of lovin’ on Father’s day. Kids at that age, they’re not always real sentimental. Now that he’s in Iraq, he has a little more trouble keeping up with what day it is. I talked to him on Memorial Day, and he wasn’t sure what day it was.”
One area soldier will get a chance to see his children today. Sgt. 1st Class Greg Vannatta of Anderson has done two tours of Iraq due to his enlistment in the National Guard, forcing him to leave his wife and three children behind.
He was recently surprised with a newly remodeled home as part of the Anderson Extreme Home Makeover project.
Now that he’s home, his children will get to spend quality time with someone they’ve been missing for several months. The time apart can be hard on the children, Vannatta said.
“They don’t like it,” he said, “but they learn to deal with it I guess.”
Each of his three teenage sons, Cameron, Justin and Landon, deals with the separation differently.
“Justin’s the middle one, and he had a tough time last time,” Vannatta said. “I really don’t know (how they feel]) because they’re like me - they don’t openly talk about it a lot. With them all three being boys, they’re all three daddy’s boys.”
Though he will get to spend Father’s Day with his three boys, Vannatta will deploy again in a few weeks but said knowing that his family is safe in a new home will help the separation. “I won’t have to worry about them when I’m gone.”
Ellie