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Friday, August 17, 2007
Something special will await tired Marine in Iraq
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
She kept her nephew stocked with snacks and sundries during his first tour of duty in Iraq.
That won’t be necessary this time around, but the prayers and wishes that he return home soon, in one piece, will be.
“He is on an air base and they have better amenities than before,” wrote Judy Wilkes of Lilburn in an e-mail. “So we don’t have to send food and all like before.”
I met Wilkes in December 2005, a few weeks before Christmas, at the post office off Britt Road.
She was in front of me, mailing a package to 1st. Lt. Matthew Reeves, her nephew. A Marine.
Wilkes, along with Reeves’ parents — Rhonda and Wayne Reeves of Scottsdale, Ariz. — kept the young man and his unit well stocked with supplies. Magazines, CDs, DVDs and Ramen noodles — anything that helped make time spent in the chaotic Middle East a little more palatable.
Here we are nearly two years later and we’re still entrenched in this invasion, occupation, democratization — whatever you prefer to call it — in Iraq. It’s been four years since this particular war on terror began. Long enough for facts behind the U.S.-led assault to change. Long enough for talk about Iraq policy, military troop surges and war progress reports to fuel a Beltway debate that basically pits pro-withdrawal politicians against colleagues who prefer to stay on task, finish the mission.
While the debate rages, though, the reality remains unchanged for enlisted service personnel.
Reeves, who is stationed at a military base in California, served seven months on his first tour. He returned to his wife, Danielle, in April 2006. This June, he was redeployed to the Anbar province.
He and his mother, Rhonda, spoke by phone last Sunday. They had great reception. It sounded as if he were right next door, not a cazillion miles away. The young man sounded tired, but cheerful, Rhonda Reeves told me in an e-mail.
“We talked about family,” she wrote. “He talked about his work and how hot it was in Iraq right now, about 120 degrees.”
She says her son has been unwavering in respect to the country’s mission in Iraq as well as the role he plays in trying to accomplish it.
“His take on the situation in Iraq is that the military is there to do a job, and that they will accomplish their mission,” Reeves said. “He thinks a lot of good has been done to help the Iraqi people.”
On the homefront, Danielle, his wife, copes.
“Matt’s wife is like many other military spouses,” Reeves said.
“Of course, she misses him, but she and so many other wives accept their husbands’ duties and support them. These spouses support each other and help out in any way they can. They are emotionally strong and handle their responsibilities with dignity as well as amazing grace.”
War supporters have been quick to label those who oppose the Iraq War as non-supportive of the U.S. troops deployed there. It’s as if the two can’t co-exist, like you can’t be against the war yet be for the armed forces. Like patriotism is, and should be, blind loyalty. Pure nonsense.
I, like a growing number of citizens on both sides of the political aisles, don’t have a problem with the soldiers. We have issues, though, with the American government that launched and is running this conflict.
Like Wilkes, l support and respect the troops, the job they’re doing. And I join her in wishing that they all come home, safely, soon.
“I wish that Matt had not had to go back again,” said Wilkes, an administrative assistant for Bradshaw, Pope & Franklin, an accounting firm in Norcross. “… My heart especially goes out to the families of the men and boys who never get home alive.”
Reeves, it is hoped, should be home by February or so.
When he returns, he’ll be welcomed by his wife and the family dogs — Riley and Ani. He’ll also be a first-time father.
Baby Girl Reeves is due sometime in January or December.
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
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