thedrifter
07-16-06, 10:16 AM
July 16, 2006
Reservists, families enjoy a little R&R
By SCOTT WYLAND
Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH -- Children splash playfully in the artificial waves, while adults wade into the pool or recline on damp deck chairs -- a setting that differs vividly from an arid, Iraq desert.
The 32 local U.S. Army reservists who caught some rays, fake waves and R&R -- military-speak for rest and relaxation -- at Daytona Lagoon on Saturday welcomed the chance to have their minds taken as far from Iraq as possible.
Some have done a stint in the Middle East and face the prospect of another tour. A few have never been deployed and await the orders that will put them in the far-flung combat zone that many of their comrades have experienced.
Most brought spouses and children to Saturday's Family Day event, knowing they soon could be separated by an ocean and a desert.
Staff Sgt. Ricky Williams, 43, has been in the Army 23 years without seeing combat. He said he is the only one in his unit who has not gone to Iraq.
"I think my luck is about to run out," Williams said. "If the mission calls me to go, I'll go."
Williams, who works as a state corrections officer, has two children and two stepchildren. He came to Family Day with his wife, Angela, and their 4-year-old daughter.
Halifax Health Services and the Family Readiness Group hosted the event.
The event's purpose is to help military dependents bond with one another so they don't feel isolated when their loved ones are deployed.
"We're so proud of all these young people who protected us," said Debbie Robinson, a nurse for Halifax Health Services. "We want to thank them."
Staff Sgt. Marcus Baugh, 30, did a four-year hitch in the U.S. Marines and two years of active duty in the army. But he was never sent to a combat zone until he was a reservist.
Relaxing near the pool with his wife, two children and a niece, Baugh recalled the year he spent in Iraq, driving a supply truck. His convoys were never attacked, though he witnessed the aftermath of trucks that were blown into scrap metal.
The thing he remembers most is driving a truck with no air conditioning in unrelenting, 120-degree heat.
"It's a good way to lose weight," Baugh joked.
Baugh returned from Iraq a year ago and became a Daytona Beach police officer. He likes to believe he won't be deployed, even though that might smack of denial, he said.
Although he has decided to stay in the reserves for 20 years, he sympathizes with soldiers who are involuntarily extended beyond their terms of enlistment -- especially if that extension lands them in Iraq.
"It's like a draft of the people who volunteered," Baugh said.
Pvt. Friend Dewey, 24, thinks all reservists will be deployed, and that they should accept their fate.
"I don't like it, but it's what I got to do," said Dewey, who has a wife and two children. "Nobody wants to leave here, but unfortunately it goes with the job."
On this day, Dewey did his best to enjoy himself, saying that hanging out at the recreation center beat cleaning rifles and servicing Humvees.
Judith Stemmerman, 20, signed up for eight years as a transportation coordinator, a job that could put her on convoys in combat areas. She accepts that she could wind up in Iraq, far away from her 6-month-old daughter.
"I signed up to do it, and nobody forced me to do it," Stemmerman said.
scott.wyland@news-jrnl.com
Ellie
Reservists, families enjoy a little R&R
By SCOTT WYLAND
Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH -- Children splash playfully in the artificial waves, while adults wade into the pool or recline on damp deck chairs -- a setting that differs vividly from an arid, Iraq desert.
The 32 local U.S. Army reservists who caught some rays, fake waves and R&R -- military-speak for rest and relaxation -- at Daytona Lagoon on Saturday welcomed the chance to have their minds taken as far from Iraq as possible.
Some have done a stint in the Middle East and face the prospect of another tour. A few have never been deployed and await the orders that will put them in the far-flung combat zone that many of their comrades have experienced.
Most brought spouses and children to Saturday's Family Day event, knowing they soon could be separated by an ocean and a desert.
Staff Sgt. Ricky Williams, 43, has been in the Army 23 years without seeing combat. He said he is the only one in his unit who has not gone to Iraq.
"I think my luck is about to run out," Williams said. "If the mission calls me to go, I'll go."
Williams, who works as a state corrections officer, has two children and two stepchildren. He came to Family Day with his wife, Angela, and their 4-year-old daughter.
Halifax Health Services and the Family Readiness Group hosted the event.
The event's purpose is to help military dependents bond with one another so they don't feel isolated when their loved ones are deployed.
"We're so proud of all these young people who protected us," said Debbie Robinson, a nurse for Halifax Health Services. "We want to thank them."
Staff Sgt. Marcus Baugh, 30, did a four-year hitch in the U.S. Marines and two years of active duty in the army. But he was never sent to a combat zone until he was a reservist.
Relaxing near the pool with his wife, two children and a niece, Baugh recalled the year he spent in Iraq, driving a supply truck. His convoys were never attacked, though he witnessed the aftermath of trucks that were blown into scrap metal.
The thing he remembers most is driving a truck with no air conditioning in unrelenting, 120-degree heat.
"It's a good way to lose weight," Baugh joked.
Baugh returned from Iraq a year ago and became a Daytona Beach police officer. He likes to believe he won't be deployed, even though that might smack of denial, he said.
Although he has decided to stay in the reserves for 20 years, he sympathizes with soldiers who are involuntarily extended beyond their terms of enlistment -- especially if that extension lands them in Iraq.
"It's like a draft of the people who volunteered," Baugh said.
Pvt. Friend Dewey, 24, thinks all reservists will be deployed, and that they should accept their fate.
"I don't like it, but it's what I got to do," said Dewey, who has a wife and two children. "Nobody wants to leave here, but unfortunately it goes with the job."
On this day, Dewey did his best to enjoy himself, saying that hanging out at the recreation center beat cleaning rifles and servicing Humvees.
Judith Stemmerman, 20, signed up for eight years as a transportation coordinator, a job that could put her on convoys in combat areas. She accepts that she could wind up in Iraq, far away from her 6-month-old daughter.
"I signed up to do it, and nobody forced me to do it," Stemmerman said.
scott.wyland@news-jrnl.com
Ellie