Curt Crawford begins journey home from Iraq (Letters from a soldier)

St. Helena Star ^ | 3/3/05 | Carolyn Younger

[Citizen James]

The Crawford family is crossing its fingers and holding its collective breath. Thirty-six-year-old Cpl. Curtis Crawford is scheduled to fly out of Baghdad tomorrow on the first leg of a 12-day journey home to his St. Helena family -- wife Priscilla and children, Jennifer, Cassy, Jordon, Cyler, Jagger and Dakota.

"The kids are really excited," Priscilla Crawford said last week as she was working on homecoming details. "The older ones are kind of apprehensive. They're not sure if a good thing or bad thing. It's been a long time."

Crawford, who had been in the Army for seven years until his discharge in 1996, was working in Napa as a fire systems alarm inspector when he joined the National Guard in July 2003. By November he was training at Fort Lewis, Wash., and by March, 2004, was on his way to Iraq with the 579th Engineers based in Petaluma, a battalion which supports infantry and tanks on the battlefield. In his year and a half in Iraq, Crawford has seen action in Fallujah, Sadr City and Baghdad.

At home, Priscilla Crawford -- Cilla to everyone who knows her -- took over the family responsibilities usually handled by her husband and learned to delegate some of the everyday chores.

"I wasn't organized before, I had to become that way," she admitted. "Now I realize the value of being organized and having things on a set schedule. I drove myself crazy the first six months until I organized the house so I could find things."

She took comfort in her husband's regular calls and e-mails and in the online journal she started. She tied yellow ribbons on the trees around the family's home, stuck "support our troops" stickers on her Mitsubishi and is now planning to have a Welcome Home Curt banner hanging across Main Street. She is also arranging a homecoming dinner at Pizzeria Tra Vigne.

The cost of the banner, including insurance, printing and installation, will be about $875, not easy for a family of eight to come up with but Priscilla Crawford wants her husband to realize the extent of the family's love and appreciation.

"People say, 'Oh bless your heart,' when they hear that he's over there," she said. "I tell them, it doesn't matter that they don't support the war but (it's important) that they support the troops."

"It's been a trying time but not all bad," she said, adding that "All the things I used to feel were overwhelming now aren't ... I look at it like being a cop's wife. I've learned to get used to the fact that he'll be in danger."

The closer her husband gets to coming home, the more he worries that, after all he has been through, it won't be possible to return to his old life. He is considering signing on for active duty with the Army, his wife said. But whether he finishes his tour with the Army's National Guard or signs up for active duty, he will be sent to Iraq again.

"Whatever branch of the service he's in he'd have to go back," she said. "We've come to that realization."

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Feb. 17, 2005

Cilla,

I can't believe that this tour is almost over! I was so excited to go on this tour and now I am just as excited to come home. I am sure that the challenges that I face coming home will be almost as great as the challenges I faced here in Iraq! (HA HA) I know things have changed since I have been gone, and I am hoping that I still fit in. My days here are filled with missions, patrols, and details. My life back in the States will be almost mundane compared to this last year.

Don't get mad when I start hanging out the sunroof clearing people out of our way! You always complained that I did all the driving, well now I am so used to hanging out the top of the hummer and being a gunner that I don't think I am going to adjust very well. You may have to strap me down during car rides!

Yesterday we were under attack and all I could think about was making sure I come home safely, cause I know you would be pissed if I made it this far and got hurt. Dam, you would win the war over here if that happened, cause your fury would be more than these insurgents could handle! (HA HA) Well babe, the time is drawing near, we are due to leave Baghdad on the 3rd of March and headed to Kuwait where we will then fly out soon after. The rumors are we are headed to Ireland instead of Germany this time, but who knows, things are always changing around here. We have been told that we should be back to the States by the 9th of March. So cross your fingers and pray that all goes well. Well babe, I am off to chow, I hope this letter finds you in good sprits and remember someone in Iraq loves you!

Love,

Curtis

* * *

Feb. 14, 2005

My dearest best friend, my lover, my wife for life,

Happy Valentine's Day. I am sorry we can't be together again, however I will make it up to you when I return home. I love you and miss you dearly ... Today we went on mission to Sadr City, I enjoy going out on patrol instead of staying near our FOB, it breaks things up and makes thing interesting. I can hear you now, telling me that things are safer if I stay close to base, but to tell you the truth Cilla, things aren't safe anywhere. I have just as much chance of being hurt or worse in my own camp or near it, than I do when we go on missions.

Things were calmer after the elections, it was like an eerie calm and I didn't like it at all. I didn't know how to adjust to it, I guess, but now that things are heating up again, I can honestly say I feel more secure. The insurgents over here are getting restless and in my opinion I think they are heating things up because of all the new guys coming in to replace us. They want to stir stuff up while things are kinda chaotic.

Well babe, I love you and miss you dearly! 30 more days and a wake up til I am home and a part of civilization again. Happy Valentine's and don't worry, I am coming home safe and sound!

Love,

your hubby for the rest of my life!

Curtis