No News is Good News
I want to thank everyone who emailed and asked if we had heard from him when I had expected to. He contacted me via email this morning, Friday 9/24, and everything is fine - well, as fine as it can be I suppose. He sent me two email.
And to let you know how the entire scenario "goes down" here's a breakdown.
When we hear of a death related to Stryker Brigade we know immediately that we won't hear from him for a minimum of two days. And as I said the anxiety level goes up a thousand fold immediately. You worry, you're apprehensive, you get emotional. Your mind starts to do some strange things with your thoughts.
First I check for a location - that piece of information tells me a lot. Then I search for anything additional - if I can find anything to indicate a unit it may be enough to eliminate the possibility that he was involved. Even the time of day can help. If there's little additional information we continue to worry.
After about 24 hours of not hearing any "news" from the military you begin to calm - things return to "normal". At that 24 hour point we know that he's safe. Then it becomes just a matter of waiting until he can get back in touch. The waiting is still hard but if at least we didn't hear from the Army it's a really good thing.
And here's a little side note that may be interesting to you. Our youngest had looked into the Army as a career but decided against it. So for a long time he would get phone calls from the recruiting station. Imagine this - the news media reports killed and wounded in Iraq and the phone rings that evening. A glance at the caller ID shows the caller as "US Government". You pick up the phone expecting what could be the most devastating phone call of your life only to find out it's the Army recruiter wanting to talk to your son. I finally asked that they PLEASE stop calling the house.
This most recent incident was sniper fire, a single shot, that took the life of a single Soldier on a dismounted patrol in a Mosul neighborhood. Dismounted patrols are one of the most dangerous duties the guys perform - they are at their most vulnerable.
And to let you know how the entire scenario "goes down" here's a breakdown.
When we hear of a death related to Stryker Brigade we know immediately that we won't hear from him for a minimum of two days. And as I said the anxiety level goes up a thousand fold immediately. You worry, you're apprehensive, you get emotional. Your mind starts to do some strange things with your thoughts.
First I check for a location - that piece of information tells me a lot. Then I search for anything additional - if I can find anything to indicate a unit it may be enough to eliminate the possibility that he was involved. Even the time of day can help. If there's little additional information we continue to worry.
After about 24 hours of not hearing any "news" from the military you begin to calm - things return to "normal". At that 24 hour point we know that he's safe. Then it becomes just a matter of waiting until he can get back in touch. The waiting is still hard but if at least we didn't hear from the Army it's a really good thing.
And here's a little side note that may be interesting to you. Our youngest had looked into the Army as a career but decided against it. So for a long time he would get phone calls from the recruiting station. Imagine this - the news media reports killed and wounded in Iraq and the phone rings that evening. A glance at the caller ID shows the caller as "US Government". You pick up the phone expecting what could be the most devastating phone call of your life only to find out it's the Army recruiter wanting to talk to your son. I finally asked that they PLEASE stop calling the house.
This most recent incident was sniper fire, a single shot, that took the life of a single Soldier on a dismounted patrol in a Mosul neighborhood. Dismounted patrols are one of the most dangerous duties the guys perform - they are at their most vulnerable.
posted by deesci | 5:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home