One more day; Delay in unit's departure gives family more time before goodbye

Sierra Vista Herald, Sierra Vista Arizona ^ | 4/30/04 | Bill Hess

[SandRat]

Chaplain (Capt.) Anthony Kazarnowicz says a prayer asking for God's care over a group of soldiers deploying from Fort Huachuca to Iraq as Blanche Livingston wipes tears from her eyes. Standing behind her is her husband, Pfc. Joe Livingston, one of the soldiers who is expected to depart today to provide unmanned aerial vehicle support for the 1st Infantry Division. (Mark Levy-Herald/Review)

FORT HUACHUCA - Blanche Livingston got some good news Thursday. Her husband would not be leaving that day for Iraq.

Instead, Pfc. Joe Livingston and nearly 20 other soldiers of the first unmanned aerial vehicle platoon trained as a team at the Intelligence Center are scheduled to leave today instead.

When Blanche received the news of the delay, she said, "Nice. That's great. I'll take another night, in fact, they can continue delaying it as long as they want."

She knew about the delay before her husband. He was helping load an Air Force transport plane.

The Shadow UAV team, part of the 101st Military Intelligence Battalion of the 1st Infantry Division, was suppose to depart the post on Monday.

The Air Force C-5A aircrew that flew in Thursday didn't have enough duty time remaining to reach Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

The plane was nearly four hours late arriving at Libby Army Airfield because of some mechanical problems.

For the past few months Blanche and the couple's daughter, Aesa, who will be 2 in June, lived in Sierra Vista as Joe went through UAV training.

"My lease is up Friday (today)," she said, adding she and her daughter will be returning to Safford, which is home for her and her husband. Joe is a 1999 graduate of Safford High School.

Although she is glad her husband had some more time with her before leaving, Blanche Livingston said she has to face reality that he is going into a dangerous situation.

"It's pretty terrifying. It's horrible," she said.

Joe's parents, John and Peggy Livingston, were with her and Aesa on Thursday.

Peggy said like any mother she is concerned about her son's safety. And there also is a mother's pride in a son.

"I'm real proud of him. It's a noble cause," Peggy said.

Blanche said her husband went to basic training at Fort Sill, Okla., and then came to Fort Huachuca for his technical course instruction.

The soldier was suppose to go to paratrooper school, but instead he became part of the first UAV team trained in which a platoon was brought together to prepare to deploy directly into Iraq to provide airborne surveillance and intelligence capabilities.

For John, the additional wait gives him, Peggy, Blanche and Aesa a little more time with Joe.

"I'll believe he's going when he's on the plane and in the air," he said.

Everyone thought the flight would have begun Thursday.

Farewell speeches were made. Chaplain (Capt.) Anthony Kazarnowicz talked about the goals of the Army's mission in Iraq "to save lives and bring peace."

Many will be called to make sacrifices, the chaplain said of the American military serving in Iraq.

As Kazarnowicz spoke, and later prayed with the group, Blanche wiped tears from her eyes as Joe put a comforting hand on her shoulder. They were ready for the separation Thursday that did not come.

The plane was scheduled to depart between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. today.

Blanche, Peggy and John said they once again will have to be ready to say goodbye.

As for Aesa, Blanche said she doesn't understand what is happening to her "papa," as she calls her father.

"She just loves him," Blanche said as she looked at Peggy, who was holding Aesa.

[SandRat]

For every Wife's and Mother's window

[SandRat]

Stay with them dear Lord, keep them safe and return them to their loved ones sound of body and mind quickly when the job is done.

Amen

[Diva Betsy Ross]

Amen.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

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American Soldiers fighting for the Freedom of others, and their Loved Ones waiting for them to come home or not, are...

...H-O-L-Y..!!!

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[onyx]

Excellent post.
Thanks for the ping
and the reminder.

[StarCMC]

AMen SandRat - from your fingertips to God's ears....

Jinxie - do you know these guys/gals?

[SandRat]

Did you see this follow up?

[nicko]

I'll tell ya, from experience, the last thing you want is to be delayed, when you're almost wheels up...it sounds great, one more day with the family and folks, but you're not really with them anyway, and the second goodbye is often harder than the first...

[getgoing]

Appreciation and prayers follow our troops and their families.

Eyes in the sky bump.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Stay with them dear Lord, keep them safe and return them to their loved ones sound of body and mind quickly when the job is done.

~Y~

 

American Soldiers fighting for the Freedom of others, and their Loved Ones waiting for them to come home or not, are...

...H-O-L-Y..!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Amen, and Amen!

 

Thank you. 

 

We need all of our allies, today.

 

((Hugs))

 

God bless our troops, and their loved ones on the homefront!

 

Army Times: Front Line Photos 4/30/04:

Emilio Morenatti / AP photo

A soldier from the 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces, mans an M-60 machine gun aboard a Black Hawk helicopter to protect the aircraft from possible enemy attack en route to Asadabad Fire Base from Bagram, Afghanistan, on Thursday.

Emilio Morenatti / AP photo

A crew member looks out the window of a Black Hawk helicopter as it travels along a mountain riverbed from Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, to Asadabad Fire Base, about 63 miles southeast of Kabul, on Thursday.

 

Military personnel are lowered from a helicopter during a training drill at Fort Story, Va., on Wednesday. The Navy plans to build a pair of multimillion-dollar training centers at the Army base for its elite SEAL commandos based at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, Va. Mort Fryman, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot / AP photo

Kraig Bowen gives a last-minute hug to his children, Katelyn and Kaleb, before leaving for Fort Hood, Texas, with other members of the 199th Support Battalion, part of the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Enhanced Separate Brigade, on Thursday in St. Martinville, La. After training in Texas, the soldiers will deploy to Iraq.   M. Scott Mahaskey / Military Times staff Marines inspect a vehicle in which the occupants were killed by U.S. soldiers after it broke through a checkpoint and fired on the soldiers in Fallujah, Iraq, on Thursday.   Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon II / U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Tim Tyvan, a tactical air control party airman with the 116th Air Support Operations Squadron, and Army 1st Lt. Josh Walter, assigned to the 1st Infantry Division, patrol an area at Balad Air Base, Iraq, on Monday. John Rowland, The (Lafayette, La.) Daily Advertiser / AP photo

 

Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon II / U.S. Air Force

Senior Master Sgt. Tim Tyvan patrols an area at Balad Air Base, Iraq, on Monday.

Photographer’s Mate Airman Jessica Davis / U.S. Navy

Aviation Electronics Technician 3rd Class Anthony Maresca, of Atlanta, Ga., left, and Aviation Electronics Technician 1st Class William Heckman, of Dayton, Ohio, repair antenna wiring on the back of an F-14B Tomcat assigned to the “Red Rippers” of Fighter Squadron One One (VF 11) aboard the aircraft carrier George Washington (CVN 73). The Norfolk, Va.,- based nuclear-powered ship and its embarked Carrier Air Wing Seven (CVW 7) are on a deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

 

Marine Pfc. Todd Tviede, 20, of Huntington Beach, Fla., gestures as Cpl. Will McDermott, 20, of Phoneix, Ariz., places him in a headlock during a round of mock professional wrestling in Fallujah, Iraq, on Thursday. Both men are part of Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.

M. Scott Mahaskey / Military Times staff

[SAMWolf]

Bump.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

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..............H-0-L-Y...............


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[ALOHA RONNIE]

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MEL's -PASSION- sparked by -WE WERE SOLDIERS-

http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=39081


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[Happy2BMe]

Thank you VERY MUCH, RTC for the ping and the great photo essay - enjoyed it immensely - BUMP!

[HiJinx]

Nope...although I wouldn't be surprised if we haven't crossed paths. SandRat and I spend a lot of time out and about in our community, and we at least see a lot of the troops and their families. Sierra Vista only has about 40,000 people living in the area.

The article says the Livingston family's home is in Safford. That's just a couple of hours up the road from here in some very pretty country. It's another one of those small communities where everyone knows you or your Momma.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[windchime]

Bump!

[archy]

MEL's -PASSION- sparked by -WE WERE SOLDIERS-

http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=39081

It appears Mel has a couple more films to put together

March 2004

March 29th

From Newsweek Entertainment: March 29 issue - Last week Mel Gibson told Fox News talk-show host Sean Hannity he was interested in filming the story of the Maccabees—the Jewish liberators whose triumph is celebrated at Chanukah. Could Gibson, whose "Passion of the Christ" has been called anti-Semitic, have been serious? Absolutely, says his publicist, Alan Neirob. "I've heard him talk about this project for years." But Gibson won't be doing it this year—for one thing, he's making a fourth "Mad Max" movie (the first since 1985), called "Mad Max: Fury Road." "Isn't it funny," one industry source muses. "A month ago, everybody was saying 'The Passion' would hurt Mel's career, and now all anyone wants to know is what he's doing next."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4569728/.

[RightWingMama]

Thanks

[FrogMom]

I wondered what was going on, when I left work about 2, the C5 was still at the airfield. Was supposed to have left at noon.

Wish them all well. Blessings on them, their mission and their leaders.