I didn't know where I should post this, so I'm posting it here. I got a call from our nephew in Iraq this evening. It was a pleasant surprise. He usually emails or IM's, but I hadn't heard from him in a while. He's at the same base where our son is technically based, although John's not there right now and may not be back there until the end of his deployment.
Kevin (nephew) is a Captain and flies jets for the Marines. I can't even imagine how stressful his job is, out there flying around every night, waiting for the call to drop a bomb when needed. He said it gets monotonous, every day is basically the same; fly, eat, shower, sleep, get up and do it again. Of course he downplays the times when it's NOT "the same."
He wished us a belated Merry Christmas, but his heart definitely wasn't in it. Kevin is always such an upbeat, joking kind of guy. It's depressing to hear him the way he is now...tired, homesick, so serious. He just kept saying, "I'm ready to come home." Breaks your heart.
He wanted news about John...had we heard from him, where is he, what is he doing, that kind of thing. He's more worried about him than he is himself and feels bad that he's in such a safe and relatively comfortable place when John is out doing convoys all over the place in crappy living conditions. When he was there at the base Kevin felt like he could "keep an eye on him" for us. I know it must be frustrating for him.
My husband is out of town right now. I wish he could have been here when Kevin called. Whenever I hear from one of them I'm happy to hear their voice but sad when they hang up and cry like a baby wishing I could reach out and hug them and make everything better.
