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Thursday, September 25, 2008 7:15 PM EDT
Father of 6 ships out
By Kate Day Sager
Olean Times Herald
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| First Lt. Doug Bell of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard is shown on Wednesday with his wife, Kim (at left) and their six children prior to leaving for future deployment to Kuwait from the Bradford (Pa.) Armory. The Bell children are (from left) Kaylin, 7, Katie, 4, Seth, 2, Mikayla, 8, Jonathan, 6 weeks, and Caleb, 6. Photo by Kate Day Sager/Olean Times Herald |
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BRADFORD, Pa. - As the soldiers hugged family members and joked with friends, one large family of children snuggled around their military dad’s legs, as if they didn’t want to let go.
On Wednesday, the six small children of First Lt. Doug Bell of Shinglehouse, as well as dozens of other children and family members, said goodbye to soldiers with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard who shipped out from the Bradford Armory for future deployment to Iraq.
The soldiers, numbering at about 80, are part of Charlie Company C, 1/112th Infantry of the 56th Stryker Brigade. Charlie Company soldiers, who are from the Bradford, Ridgway and Erie regions, will train in Camp Shelby in Mississippi before returning home during the Christmas holidays for a 10-day leave. The company will then leave from Fort Dix, N.J., in early January for deployment to Kuwait.
For the Bell children, the hour-long trip from Shinglehouse to Bradford entailed getting up early Wednesday to make sure they would arrive at the armory with their parents near 9 a.m.
Lt. Bell, 45, said it was hard to leave his wife and children but noted it will be even more difficult to depart for the Middle East in December.
“The real tough one is when we come home for Christmas for about a week and then we actually go out of the country; that will be the heartbreaker,” Lt. Bell said while holding his 6-week-old son, Jonathan.
“There were a lot of tears and a lot of handkerchiefs this morning,” he said. His wife, Kim, said her husband’s departure on Wednesday was easier for her as he had left for training in Mississippi in July and recently returned home.
“We can communicate now but the hard part will when he’s in another country because I don’t know how the communication will be then,” Mrs. Bell said.
When asked how she felt about her dad leaving, 8-year-old Mikayla didn’t answer and instead gave a thumbs-down gesture.
Lt. Bell said he wouldn’t have been able to leave with his unit without the support of his wife and their extended family.
“She’s the one who will have the full-time job,” he said while looking at his wife. He said he could have turned down the deployment because of his rank and family obligations.
“But I’d rather fight them over there than over here,” Lt. Bell said of the terrorists. “It’s a war that is winnable and we need to win it, that’s the bottom line.”
Other soldiers leaving families behind included Sgt. Tom Bleem of Bradford. On hand was his mother, Susan Bleem, who said this will be her son’s second deployment to the Middle East.
“I’m very sad about it (his deployment),” Ms. Bleem said. “Of course I’m nervous and I’ll be glad when it’s over.”
Specialist Mike Brien of Bradford said he was more anxious than nervous about his first deployment. His two 15-year-old twin children, Chelsea and Gage, took time off from high school to see their dad leave. Gage said he plans to follow in his father’s footsteps and wants to enlist after graduation.
April Stuckey of Roulette was at the armory to see her 19-year-old son, Private George Stuckey, leave with his unit.
“I’m a little bit nervous, but when they come back for Christmas and have to leave for Kuwait, that will be harder,” Ms. Stuckey said.
Staff Sgt. Todd Mead of Port Allegany has a somewhat unique family situation as his 19-year-old son, Ryan, also is being deployed with Charlie Company. This will be Sgt. Mead’s third deployment to the Middle East.
“We’re actually excited to go down (to Mississippi) and start our training,” Sgt. Mead said of himself, his son and the other soldiers. “There’s a lot of down time for the soldiers and they start getting restless.”
Mead family members who were at the armory to say farewell included Sgt. Mead’s daughter, Megan, and his new infant granddaughter, Shealeigh.
“It’s hard to see my dad go because he worries about his granddaughter,” she said.
(Contact reporter Kate Day Sager at kates_th@yahoo.com)
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