Bittersweet Reunions

There is no more joyous place than in a military hangar during a homecoming celebration.  The energy is electrifying, the cheers are deafening and the relief is palpable. Emmy and I have had the great privilege of attending five in the last three weeks.  We have run around sharing welcome home hugs with our soldiers and offering congratulations to our families; all of whom have overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges to see this moment.

I wish I could say that every reunion evokes the same feelings of elation, but that just hasn't been the case.  Given the fact that our company has seen more tragedy than any other aviation unit in the entire army this past year, we are bracing ourselves for the grief that is to come.

One of our soldiers arrived home to no one.  While the other soldiers embraced their loved ones, this soldier went outside to smoke.  Moments before, he had marched through the hangar doors to first lay eyes on Tiffany Wagstaff.  The last time he saw her was with his own wife at his side the day he deployed with her husband.  Since that day, his wife left him and Tiffany's husband was killed in a tragic helicopter accident.  The emotions were enough to bring a strong man to cry woefully in a stranger's arms.

That particular soldier isn't the only one stricken by grief upon returning to the states.  I received a hysterical call from a fiance yesterday who was terribly worried about her own soldier.  44 hours after arriving home, the switch flipped and he wanted nothing more than to get away from she and his family.  He is only now mourning the loss of Dave Senft, his only friend in the company.  While he is consumed by feelings about Dave's death, he refuses to talk to anyone for fear that any show of weakness would jeopardize his military career.  Thank the Lord that she reached out to get him the support he needs.

Our soldiers have not grieved the loss of their fallen comrades yet.  In the name of war, they were expected to carry on with the mission a mere day after tragedy struck.  I have been told that it is imperative that it be that way, so that the soldiers don't have an opportunity to fall to a dark place in the midst of deployment.  Inevitably, the feelings will come.  We just need to be ready for when they do.