Junior is leaving for Afghanistan.

Last weekend my son finished his training before his deployment to Afghanistan, and I was allowed to pay him and his fellow soldiers a visit at Bardufoss airfield in northern Norway.

He was supposed to go on his tour of duty last year when the government cut back on the number of troops deployed. Since he belonged to an artillery unit and Norway has no artillery in Afghanistan, he was one of those who had to stay home.

Instead he joined a medic team and got a crash course as an ambulance driver, so now he will be leaving next monday.

Norway lost four more troops last Sunday, their vehicle was blown up by an IED. As a father you stand there with mixed feelings, both pride and anxiety. I went to work with my life at risk in underground mining operations for many years, but I hardly ever gave it a second thought since I trusted my knowledge and my skills. I know he feels the same way about the task lying ahead of him.

I'll pray for him and wish him all the best.

 

Tell him from us on the forum we wish him well, and pray for his safe return. And I understand the mixture of "pride and anxiety", when my oldest boy was stationed in the Persian Gulf aboard the USS Princeton, the first Gulf war was over, and the second hadn't started, but still....

The memory of the USS Cole wasn't far out of my thoughts, and the Princeton herself had hit a mine during the first one. It is an "odd mix", but mine came back without scratch one, and the other boy was in the USMC later but assigned to diplomatic protection duty at an embassy. It wasn't until he had returned to the States that this type of posting turned more hazardous.

 

My best wishes to him for a safe tour and he should keep his a$$ down!

Good Luck to your boy!

Regards/Mvh

Ulrich

 

I salute you for fathering such a brave son; i pray that all goes well and im sure everyone here wishes him the best of luck.

Regards,

Will

 

He is a brave man, like so many others.

All the best to him, and hope he and the rest of the boys over there get home as soon as possible from all countries.

 

You have reasons to be proud. That's a fine looking young man. You did well.
I've seen the issue from four sides, as the son of a Marine, fighting in Vietnam (3 Tours), as a deployed servicemember, as the brother of a deployed servicemember, and as the father of deployed servicemembers. Trust me, being the parent is the hardest. Being the one deployed is the easiest as you said, "I trusted my knowledge and my skills". That's exactly how it is. My youngest is headed for Afghanistan with the Marine Corps in September, so we'll be in the same boat for a while.

That's the best thing you can do and I'll make sure to include your son in my prayers. I won't mislead you, it's not going to be easy. If you ever need someone to talk to, PM me, I'll send you my private e-mail address. It does help to speak with someone that has or is experiencing the same thing.
-One thing I might suggest is to get the contact info for some of the other parents of soldiers in his unit. You can share information back and forth and you can pretty much stay up on what's going on.
-They told us in the pre-deployment family briefings to try to stay away from the news. That was good advice. I didn't listen at first but came to realize that what was being reported seldom reflected what was going on. The one exception, I found, was the ICasualties website. The Afghanistan one is here:
iCasualties | Operation Enduring Freedom | Afghanistan
-We setup a Myspace and Facebook account and networked with our son's Marine friends. I don't know how they do it in the Norwegian military but in the U.S. they shut commo down in a unit when there is a casualty until the next of kin is notified. If there was a particularly bad day, you saw on the news that eight Marines had been killed in Anbar, we'd log on. If any of his fellow Marines logged on that day we'd know the casualties were not from their unit.
-Send lots of letters and aid and comfort packages. Makes you feel that you're doing something and the stuff you send often comes in really handy for the troops.

The four Norwegians lost on 06/27/2010 in Faryab Provence. Pray for their loved ones.
Eldjarn, Andreas-Kvartermester (Petty Officer 1st Class)
Tokle, Simen-Fenrik (2nd Lieutenant)
Bolle, Trond Andre-Orlogskaptein (Lieutenant Commander)
Lian, Christian-Løytnant (1st Lietenant)

 

Hi RAM, I completely echo everyone here and will add that may he have as an eventless tour of duty as possible. May he and his comrades also have the luck of Thor and the wisdom of Odin with them ;-)) As an American of Norwegian descent, on hearing of the deaths of those Norwegians, is as painful as hearing of the deaths of Americans-the other Countries included.

Take care and best regards-C.

 

As others have mentioned, my thoughts and prayers are with your son, and also with you as live through this time of high anxiety mixed with pride.

 

Ram,

Your pride is justified. May your son come home safe and a better man. Afghanistan is a country that will provide him memories for a life time. Although I did not serve there I have travelled there and my memories of the country and the people are fond ones. Hopefully he brings home the same type of memories.

KTK

 

Here's to his safe deployment and return. And a big thank you from my family to yours!

 

Please extend to your son my gratitude for his willingness to serve, regardless of nationality. It is my personal conviction that medics are the bravest men on any battlefield, to save lives when so many try to take them. May his deployment be uneventful, and best wishes for his safe return.

 

Thank you all for your kind words and concern. I will bring it forward to my son when he visits me this weekend, he will have a few days leave before deployment.

Thank you for your advice, I will do my best and send whatever he wants as far as the shipping limitations allow, maximum weight is 4 lbs for non-military packages. The routines in the Norwegian military are similar to the ones in the U.S. forces, in case of casualties information is shut down until next of kin is notified.

I'd give anything to go instead of him, but you have to realize that your best days are gone and you wouldn't be of much help over there. Somehow it's hard to face that fact too.

 

RAM prayers for you and the Familie, will he have internet access of some sort to keep you posted ?

I ask this as I have one relative am keeping close tabs on in places not mentionable at this time as he is behind the lines

keep us posted please on him if you would.

v/r E ~

 

Ram,

Best of luck to your son. I hope and pray for his safe return. My son was there in 2004, and 2005. With email it makes it a little easier, but even then it is hard to have family in harms way. Keep us posted.

WWIILetters

 

Hi RAM,

do you have updates of your son? Hope he is doing well!

Regards

Ulrich

 

Good luck from Alberta Canada.

 

We're praying that he completes his tour without adverse activity, but yes it is hard to let your boy go off to a war. I'm sure that to him, he's starting on the adventure of his lifetime. So he volunteered to transfer to a medical unit from his battery to be with his friends. Good for him, you must be proud of him. Now your job is to write, email, and send care packages and pictures of home, friends and family frequently to help keep his spirits up, so he can keep his eye on the ball over there. Keep us informed of his progress.