Twin City Times- Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Mayor's Corner #93
The place on last Saturday was the Edward Little Gymnasium where family, friends and supporters of the U.S. Army Reserve’s 619th Transportation Company, one of four companies of the 719th Transportation Battalion, was preparing for their deployment to Iraq.
The gymnasium’s grand stand was filled to capacity. There were several groups showing their support, from the Red Cross, to the Auburn & State Police, Auburn and Mechanic Falls Fire Departments and the Patriot Guard Riders, veterans, former members of the 619th who were part of Desert Shied/Storm, and perhaps others that I might not have detected.
In the audience, the soldiers sat with their family and friends as the very brief goodbye ceremony took place. Mayor John Jenkins and I shared the stage with the Company Commander who is a Captain that I actually met at a MAINEiacs hockey game this winter and First Sergeant Charlie Morin who was at the game with the Captain. I have also seen First Sergeant Morin on several occasions working out at Planet Fitness in Lewiston. The 26 year veteran had told me that he would be deploying out to Iraq this summer and behold the day was here.
Mayor Jenkins and I both spoke to give these solders words of encouragement and support. I told them that on this beautiful day, hearts were heavy as it reminded me of when I left my girlfriend and family members as I left for Vietnam in 1966. I know somewhat what these men and women were going through, yet it is more difficult when one is married and has a family. I pointed to everyone in the audience and told the soldiers that each and everyone there would be praying for them daily to be safe and have a safe return home. I said, with that many prayers, surely God would listen. Auburn City Councilor Raymond Berube was there to send off the oldest of his 12 grandchildren. State Representative Peggy Rotundo was also there in support of the troops.
Master Sergeant Cyr was the M.C. for the event, (I wasn’t concerned with names at the time as I hadn’t planned writing about it for this column). I chose to write about it because as soon as I left the area, life for those of us in the community was very normal. We have a tendency to forget the sacrifices that are being made for us on a daily basis.
Outside in the parking lot were three busses waiting to transport the troops to Fort Dix, New Jersey for final training before their deployment. Their mission in Iraq will include conducting route clearance and provide security for Coalition Forces according to WABI Channel 5 out of Bangor.
The gymnasium emptied after the brief ceremony to spend the last 45 minutes with family and friends before boarding the waiting busses. There were kisses and hugs during the time. I saw one soldier with his little boy as he was watching his son jump in the long jump pit and showing his son a proper technique.
Others held their very young children in their arms as long as they could. During this waiting time, minutes are so very precious! I saw two little boys clinging to their father as they were sobbing. One little girl was holding on to her father’s neck as close as she could. Seeing this, one’s heart was filled with emotion. There was no escape from such feelings. My eyes were filled with tears.
As mayor, I had always been there for the return of troops to welcome them back from Iraq and Afghanistan, but this was my first attendance at a departure to one of those war torn countries. Although both bring tears to one’s eyes, the emotions are so vastly different.
As the troops started to load onto the busses, I got in my vehicle to leave, but I found that I simply could not do that. I had brought my camera with me, so I took a few photos of the people surrounding the busses and a few of the embraces of goodbye. Then I started to leave again, but by that time the emotions within me wouldn’t allow me to leave, so I returned and stationed myself where the busses would be passing by as they departed the school grounds. As a war veteran, I saluted each of the soldiers in the busses as they drove past. I saw them waving from within the busses.
While waiting for the busses to drive by, there was the wife of a soldier parked near me. She had a very small baby boy who was perhaps a couple of months old and a daughter about four years old. The baby was crying uncontrollably, so I looked in the open window and tried to say a few consoling words. The little girl’s eyes were filled with tears. The mother then had to drive away and couldn’t wait any longer for the busses to come by. She apparently had to get home to take care of the baby’s needs. My thought was that this woman is going to have to be both mother and father for these children for a year and that time was starting now with the difficulties of suddenly becoming a single parent.
Such is the case for all of the families left behind. We cannot begin to imagine the sacrifices that the families of our military personnel make on behalf of our country. The Maine National Guard and Army Reserve now have in place what is called the FRG (Family Readiness Group). The mission of the FRG is to provide support for the family members left behind. This is a great source of comfort for the soldiers to know that their family will be supported.
When I was in Vietnam, if you asked a question in a letter, it took seven days to get to the recipient and another seven days to get the return response to the question. Regardless, those letters were oh so precious. What is of great help today is that soldiers can now talk to their families on webcams. Such is the benefit of modern technology.
As this year passes, I ask all of you, members of our local community, to keep all of our troops in mind so that they will remain safe and return home to their waiting families. I also implore you to pray for their families. Prayers certainly are a source of support and with faith all things are possible.
