Families worry about deployments

Jace Radke

Friday, April 30, 2004 | 11 a.m.

Justin Wiggins may be a Nevada Army Guard staff sergeant now, but he is also a former Marine.

So at times while talking about his upcoming deployment in support of the wars in the Middle East, Wiggins is all Semper Fi and gung ho. The 25-year-old veteran soldier compares his upcoming overseas trip with 150 of his fellow Southern Nevada guardsmen in the 1864th Transportation Co. to a couple of spins on an E-ticket ride at Disneyland.

But a few minutes later Wiggins admits that with so many U.S. soldiers dying in recent weeks in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a part of him that is afraid.

"If you're not scared, then there is something wrong with you," Wiggins said. "The key is to use that fear to be more vigilant and complete the mission."

His company's mission is to drive tractor-trailers full of ammunition and other supplies. The members of the 1864th have not yet been told exactly where they will be sent, but they were told on April 10 that their orders would probably come within 30 to 45 days and that they will be supporting one of the operations in the Middle East.

Wiggins, his fellow soldiers and their families and friends find themselves watching the news and waiting, just as hundreds of other Southern Nevadans have done over the last year while worrying for deployed family members.

According to Defense Department figures, 136 U.S. soldiers and Marines have died in combat in Iraq this month, more than the 109 killed during the invasion phase that ended when President Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May 1, 2003.

Through Thursday, 722 Americans, including 521 combat casualties, have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003, according to the Pentagon.

"Your anxiety builds up because you know it's only a matter of when, not if you're going over," Wiggins said. "Being transporters, we know we're going to be driving in convoys, and from the news we know that's pretty much one of the hottest areas to be in."

Transportation vehicles were targets early in the war. On March 23, 2003, 11 soldiers died and six were captured, including Pvt. Jessica Lynch, when their convoy was ambushed near the Iraqi city of An Nasiriyah.

While the 1864th will likely be deployed sometime in May, others in Las Vegas have been anxiously awaiting the return of loved ones.

Connie Graham's son, Jimmy Armstrong, a specialist with the Nevada Army Guard's 777th Engineer Utilities Team stationed at Camp Anaconda, about four miles north of Baghdad, is scheduled to come home in June after a little more than a year in Iraq.

"We're counting the days at this point," Graham said. "He calls me and e-mails me when he can, but I'm sure he doesn't tell me everything, and I'm glad about that."

Graham was instant messaging with Armstrong, 23, last week when she got a cryptic message asking her to hold on.

"A minute later I got a message saying he had to go outside of the tent for a while because a rocket had hit about 50 yards away," Graham said. "It's just crazy over there."

Col. Loren Swanson, a chaplain at Nellis Air Force Base, said that there have been some indicators of increased stress lately among the family members of deployed airmen, including more people showing up for church services.

Capt. Terry Fox, another Nellis chaplain, said that he hasn't come across family members that are extremely upset about the recent escalation of the violence in Iraq, but there are those who are frustrated by their family member's absence.

Chaplains and the Nellis Family Support Center provide a web of services and support groups designed to help the families of deployed airmen and soldiers with the National Guard and Reserves, Fox said.

"It's imperative that the servicemen and women know that their families are being taken care of back home," said Fox, who was deployed to Qatar over the last four months. "The soldiers are concentrating on their jobs, and we don't want them to have to be worrying about problems at home."

Spc. Arieanne Fenstermaker, a 22-year-old soldier with the 1864th, said that she is excited that she will soon put her training to use. She figures her parents in Las Vegas are and will continue to be more worried than she.

"I know I have a job to do, and no matter how bad it is, it has to be done," Fenstermaker, a Las Vegas resident said. "I think my main concern is the pressure and worry it's going to cause my family.

"Staying here and seeing the news and not knowing what's happening on a daily basis is going to be tough on them."

Some have been relying on their faith to get them through the news from Iraq, which seems more and more to include reports of mounting U.S. casualties.

Airman 1st Class Shatasha Williams, a member of the 99th Security Forces at Nellis, has been working and taking care of her 7-month-old son Jamaal by herself over the last three months because her husband was deployed to the Kuwait City Airport.

"I'm not worried because I know that God is taking care of him," Williams said of her husband who is also a member of the 99th Security Forces. "Everyone has been here to help me when I need it, and I have faith he'll be coming home."

More than 7,000 miles away at Tallil Air Base near the city of An Nasiryah in Southern Iraq, faith can provide a respite for some U.S. military forces, said Lt. Col. Randon Hesgard, a Nellis chaplain serving in Iraq.

"We try to provide the flavor of back home and a chance for airmen and soldiers to find a little peace and take a deep breath," Hesgard said during a phone call from Iraq Thursday.

Airmen have added a clock tower with a steeple built on their own time to the tent that serves as the chapel at Tallil. The wood wall at the front of the chapel is decorated by a desert mural painted by airmen.

"We call it the Oasis of Peace," Hesgard said. "It's a place where they can come to gain faith, strength and courage to face the challenges ahead."

Overall morale is strong among the servicemen and women he sees, Hesgard said.

"There is positive support from many of the local people here and that helps to keep morale high," Hesgard said. "The Army is here working to renovate schools, and we've been able to help deliver pens, pencils and paper.

"We have a real mission to do and are working with a real purpose."

Tallil could be one of the stops for the 1864th if they are deployed to Iraq, and asked to haul supplies over the desert to U.S. airfields and base camps. Fenstermaker still has a hard time believing that she could soon find herself halfway across the planet fighting a war.

"I joined the National Guard to pay for college," said Fenstermaker, who has a criminal justice degree from UNLV and wants to be a police dispatcher. "You know that it's possible that you may have to go fight when you sign up, but I think a lot of people don't think they'll really have to go.

"Now I see other soldiers being attacked over there, and I think that it's time for me to put in my time and help them to serve our country."

Staff Sgt. Dwayne Lee, 41, is in charge of the 1864th's supplies, and since the unit received its mobilization alert on April 10 he has been working the phones to make sure that Fenstermaker and the other soldiers have the supplies they'll need.

Besides looking after the other soldiers in the unit, Lee will be paying special attention to his 20-year-old daughter, Pfc. Antonika Lee, who is also part of the 1864th.

"We've got big Lee and little Lee," Staff Sgt. Lee said. "As a father I wish she was staying back, but she decided she wants to be a truck driver and this is what she wants to do.

"It's going to be rough, but I think it will be rougher on my wife. I was active duty for 10 years before joining the guard in 1993, so she's used to me having to go all over the world, but this time it's both of us."

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