STAR-TELEGRAM/PAUL MOSELEY
Teacher Michael Tedford, with his wife, Susan, also a teacher, is welcomed home by students at Jones Elementary School on Tuesday. Tedford served nearly a year in Iraq with the National Guard.
Posted on 10/20/2004 8:36:09 AM PDT by Dubya
ARLINGTON - A month ago, Michael Tedford was patrolling a military camp near the embattled city of Fallujah. This week, he returned to the front of his classroom at Jones Elementary School in the Mansfield school district.
On Tuesday, school officials held a surprise welcome ceremony where he raised the flag and led the students in the Pledge of Allegiance.
"We have one of our teachers back. We have one of our heroes," Principal Karl Bethel said.
Tedford, a fourth-grade teacher and member of the National Guard, was in Iraq for nearly a year, mostly near Baghdad and Fallujah.
He was able to teach English classes to young children a few times while helping rebuild a school near Habbaniyah, for which he also collected school supplies from relatives and friends at Jones Elementary.
But getting back into his old routine may take some time. It's a little unsettling for him to be without his body armor or M-16 rifle, he said.
Tedford's son, Christian, a kindergartner at the school, still worries about his dad.
"When we shut the door, dad jumped into the grass," Christian said.
Tedford said the sound reminded him of a mortar so he dove for cover.
Susan Tedford said it wasn't until her husband came home that she realized how much her son worried about his dad.
"I didn't realize until Mike came back how much was on his heart," she said.
STAR-TELEGRAM/PAUL MOSELEY
Teacher Michael Tedford, with his wife, Susan, also a teacher, is welcomed home by students at Jones Elementary School on Tuesday. Tedford served nearly a year in Iraq with the National Guard.
STAR-TELEGRAM/PAUL MOSELEY
Christian Tedford, second from right, and classmates watch his dad during a welcome ceremony.
May the Lord rain down Blessings on this and all of our GREAT AMERICAN HEROES!
This is our school dist.
He is very welcome home around here.
This is a GREAT story and deserves to be shared!
Tedford said the sound reminded him of a mortar so he dove for cover.
Uh oh...I keep wondering if noises like that are going to make me react when I finally come home...
WELCOME HOME, HERO! (I love stories like this...)
Probably.
The key for all returning Vets is getting that 'welcome home' and being able to talk about their experiences. Find another Vet and talk about it. Don't go into it with close family/friends, they will not understand and may be frightened.
PTSD is preventable. I could go into more psycho-babble, PM me if interested.
They'll be frightened if you don't talk to them about it, and some close family and friends are more open and understanding than you think. Especially if one or more of them is also a veteran.
The key is "if they are a veteran". I would not go into detail with my Mother, for instance.
Telling folks a bit of how it was, surely, can be useful. However, depending on the level of war trauma exposure, the vet can get into a place that he/she may need help getting out of. We get to see some pretty ugly stuff, far beyond what the casual civilian ever sees.
I do realize that this is 2004 and not 1964, but I find many folks, still are pretty naive. The interactions can be damaging for both the vet and family/friends.
I guess I would say to excercise caution. If you don't find a place at home or with friends to talk about this. You definately need someplace to do that. The consequences of not processing what you just were exposed to, are very long term. Unfortunately, I learned that through personal experience.
It was his comments about the hyper-startle response and not feeling safe without a weapon and protective gear that perked my ears up.
In any case, the robust welcome home goes a long way in helping with the transition from warrier to civilian.
Oh, I'm fine. But thanks for your kindness. I'm a civilian contractor, but I've seen plenty of mortar and rocket attacks. I just take it all in stride now.
I'm not patrolling Fallujah or anything like this guy was doing.
I'm going home for the first time in a year in December. I'm just looking forward to living some of my normal life for a little over three weeks.
Then I'll come back here.
Welcome home!
Sounds good.
Keep your head down. Thanks for being there.
Cheers..........
I'm going home for the first time in a year in December. I'm just looking forward to living some of my normal life for a little over three weeks.
So, When is the party? :-)
I'm not patrolling Fallujah or anything like this guy was doing.
You WILL be careful anyway! You get yourself hurt I will NOT be happy...and trust me you don't want that.
"Uh oh...I keep wondering if noises like that are going to make me react when I finally come home..."
Things like that take a long time to pass. I did 1&1/2 years at Camp Doha, KU. The sound of the SCUD siren is surgically imprinted into my brain. When I hear a sound even vaguely like the siren, I immediatle start looking for/patting down for my (now non-existent) pro-mask.
Not finding it puts me into a cold sweat - then it passes.
Oh, I'm careful. I've been here almost ten months but you don't let your guard down.
Our gallows humor here is well-honed, though. We laugh a lot and we're a bunch of sick, twisted people. (Well, we think we are anyway...)
The party will last three and a half weeks starting in December and lasting into mid-January. :-)
Hitting the deck and keeping your head and ass down is a good habit to be in around there.
Agreed, and very good advice.
Just get yourself back home in one piece so you can enjoy the party.
Well, I can tell incoming from outgoing. I don't even flinch at the outgoing sounds anymore and they're plenty loud.
Incoming sounds DO get a very alert reaction out of us, though.
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