My husband, Anthony had some big plans even before his MEU deployment was over. Out of the thirteen hundred or so in the battalion from the MEU (ship) deployment my husband volunteered along with almost two hundred more to go to Afghanistan to assist another battalion. He didn’t even ask me before saying YES to his CO! I wasn’t necessarily mad just concerned and worried. What is a good Marine Corps wife to do though? I knew that would be an option sooner or later and possibly numerous times, he is a grunt and therefore trained from the beginning in war tactics and was anxious to use his skills in real life. He lived for this and wanted to do his part to help. I didn’t have a choice but to say, “go get ‘em” when he called and needed to hear my approval and support for him. He wanted to know I was behind him and would always be so I swallowed any anxiousness, fear and dread and did just that. My only comfort was that it wasn’t another full 6 or 7 month deployment. It was only going to be for four months. I knew his higher up’s and they had been there before, I knew they were the best the battalion had to offer. Because of the seriousness of the situation, we went home for a few days on his leave period to tell the parents and family. We gathered them all together for dinner meeting at a restaurant (public place so no one could freak out, faint or scream) and let them all in on Anthony’s next deployment. No one screamed, fainted or freaked out, it was just an eerie silence and sense of worry in the room. They all had questions and concerns about everything and wanted to know more information which we didn’t really have. Anthony simply promised that I would keep everyone informed as much as possible just like I always have while helping the Family Readiness Officer for his unit. When information came in and was relevant, I passed it along to them.
Let me tell you the veterans and their wives who shake every Marine and Soldier’s hand in Maine bring tears to my eyes! They are there morning, noon and night to do this service and show their support when many Americans wouldn’t even think about doing this small gesture during their busy day. They provide basic necessities, food and free cell phones and land lines for the troops to call home. I can only imagine the pride and warmth in their hearts to do this for our men and women going to or coming from harm’s way. The pictures on their website are just so motivating and make me want to give more considering how much time they give for our guys!
Mail and custom care packages were formed and were shipped. I loved helping the FRO during all of this. I came to meet so many wonderfully inspiring and resourceful parents who wanted nothing more than to get the items the men were requesting and somehow produce mass quantities of it for their benefit. Because of my select Magnificent Parents; I know every single Marine got care packages with their much needed items and lots of goodies. These really great families volunteer for organizations which are just so supportive of our Marines. So our Marines moved around from Camp to Camp and did mission after mission. Days went by, at first we were focused on how long it would take to get there, their mailing addresses once they got there, what exactly would they need in this climate (which could be 120* in some spots, very steep mountain terrain, and the sanitation conditions aren't as convenient as in the USA) how much of it and how often, when would phone calls and emails start rolling in, keeping in contact with other wives and parents who possibly needed the previous information, ect. There is always just so much information in any deployment which some families may or may not need to be passed along to them.
Unfortunately for my husband, while there he was in a small arms fire fight and was shot several times. Luckily out of all those bullets only one of them hit him and went through his leg behind the knee. Out of the other bullets one went through the remote controlled IED scrambler on his back (and it still worked afterwards) and one went through his yellow smoke canister (he got to keep this bullet). He was the first one in out of the almost two hundred to get WIA (Wounded in Action). Anthony is the team leader he called in his own injury, found his guys and they were able to get to him, tourniquet the wound and medevac him out of the hot zone. He was in as good of spirits as could be expected during this time and I was told Anthony asked for ice cream knowing he was going to Camp Leatherneck for treatment. I was like ICE CREAM!!! REALLY!?!?! He's so silly!
He knows how lucky he is since if any of those others would have hit him he would probably not have been here today. Thankfully, all of his command has been so supportive and reassuring. From our prior Bn CO (Battalion Commanding Officer) the current command and friends who didn’t volunteer to go and were back here near me, everyone has been by my side emotionally and physically. I couldn’t have asked for anything better than their words of encouragement and love in a stressful situation. Currently we aren’t sure which way the tide will turn for Anthony’s leg. We are getting second and third opinions on his progress and end results. He wants nothing more than to be the best Marine he can be and continue to be in this supportive and family oriented organization. There have been many changes during our time here so far and there will continue to be many more in the near future.
Unfortunately, the situation out there only got worse after Anthony’s injury. The other wives who got the phone call and the one who got that terrible knock at the door with Marines in their blues will always be connected by this deployment because it changed our lives forever.
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