Posted on 01/29/2008 4:23:46 PM PST by SandRat
WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2008 Being married to the military has its benefits, but it also comes with some very rigid truths, as one Virginia native began to understand when she and her Marine husband married 10 years ago.
Operation Homecoming, a mixture of stories, poems, letters, essays and journal entries, is written by family members discovered by authors the NEA sent to military bases around the globe to find literary talent. Its all about our experiences with wartime, said the long-time writer and journalist. I havent seen one like it, because it actually includes the words of the family members. Youve got some parents (and) some spouses that give their accounts of being part of homecomings (and) leavings. Berrys short story, Down the Road, is just one of about 100 personal writings in the anthology edited by Andrew Carroll, editor of War Letters. Its also a recounting of her first combat deployment as a military spouse. When my husband deployed to (Operation Iraqi Freedom) in January of 2003, during the worst of it Id say I was barely functional, she said. One thing that I did we all did it, all the spouses if you knew of an embedded reporter that was with your husband or wifes unit, you followed that reporter. She learned through tracking the embedded journalists reports that her husbands unit was, at one point, near Nasiriyah, where some of the heaviest fighting took place during the opening phase of the war. While she was reassured every time she heard one of those reports, her subconscious was working overtime. I awoke one morning at like 4 and the thing that had awakened me was I had turned on the BBC on the radio in my sleep, Berry said. I cant remember the reporters name, but I was thinking, Well, if hes OK, hes with my husbands unit. It seemed a little comforting. As the grip of anxiety and depression began to ease up toward the end of her husbands deployment, she started thinking ahead to what she wanted their life to be like. That included the dream of a house on the water in eastern North Carolina, and hunting for the perfect property was a terrific distraction, she said. She called a realtor and spent a couple of days driving around taking pictures of property on the ocean or the Inter-coastal Waterway. The pictures went into care packages for her husband. Many care packages later, Berry had become friends with a woman working at the shipping store. Soon, she learned the woman was enduring her sons deployment to Iraq. She was very maternal, very comforting, Berry said. Then one day she wasnt there any more, and I learned that (her son) had passed away. After that, Berry realized that where she lived with her husband didnt matter nearly as much as just being together. As long as hes with me, it doesnt matter where we are, Berry said. Thats sort of the theme of (Down the Road), I guess. It was sort of therapeutic to get these feelings out about what that was like. Her husband, Joel H. Berry III, now a Marine colonel, returned safely from his first deployment to Iraq. In June 2006, he was deployed again, this time with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which eventually was diverted to aid in the evacuation of American citizens from Lebanon. While Berry said her second experience with deployment was still awful, she had a better idea of what to expect. Still, its just the worst feeling, she said. You just dont want to let go of them. Once you get that day over with, thats one of the worst days youll have in the deployment. Col. Berry is now the commander of Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools on Camp Gilbert H. Johnson, adjacent to Camp Lejeune, N.C. Consequently, his wife is worrying less and pursuing freelance writing while continuing to work on an original novel that she wrote for a contest in 2005. It didnt win, (but) I just felt strongly about the book and I felt like it was a good story, Berry said. So I kept submitting it to agents, and finally one said, I want to read the whole thing. The work of fiction, which is currently in the agents hands, does have a military element to it, but thats not the true theme. The theme of the book is really friendship in the service, in combat, at home, Berry said. Listening to Berry describe her experience with military life, there is little doubt it influenced that theme. I love it. I love the people Ive met, she said. Ive met servicemembers from all branches, and I think theyre tremendous people. Theyre generous. Theyre smart. Theyre kind. I cant say enough good things about them, she added. Berry has a bachelors degree in economics and a masters degree in history, both from George Mason University in Virginia. |
Related Sites: Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit Camp Lejeune, N.C. |
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