Samantha
(Sami) writes a special message to her father, Capt. Ernest P. Jay
West, a United Methodist minister serving in Iraq as a U.S. Army
chaplain, during Operation Strike Span, an event to recognize and to
honor the fact that kids and spouses, parents and friends are missing
one another. Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery
Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell
Screaming Eagles, have been in Iraq for six months and will probably be
gone for another six months. A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert. Photo
number 03-291, Accompanies UMNS #431, 9/5/03
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McKenna
Buchfink, 1 year old, helps her mother Kelly write a message to her
father, Sgt. 1st Class Richard Buchfink, who is in Iraq. Signing banners
was part of the events families could participate in during Operation
Strike Span held at Fort Campbell, Ky., to recognize and to honor the
fact that kids and spouses, parents and friends are missing one another.
Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment,
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell Screaming Eagles,
have been in Iraq for six months and will probably be gone for another
six months. A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert. Photo number 03-286,
Accompanies UMNS #431, 9/5/03
No Long Caption Available for this Story
Zach,
Sami and Pam West enjoy a moment together during Operation Strike Span,
an event held at Fort Campbell, Ky., for the families of soldiers from
the 2nd Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne
Division (Air Assault). The soldiers have been gone for six months and
will probably be gone for another six months. A UMNS photo by Kathy L.
Gilbert. Photo number 03-288, Accompanies UMNS #431, 9/5/03
No Long Caption Available for this Story
Samantha
(Sami) writes a special message to her father, Capt. Ernest P. Jay
West, a United Methodist minister serving in Iraq as a U.S. Army
chaplain. Sami wrote her message during Operation Strike Span, an event
to recognize and to honor the fact that kids and spouses, parents and
friends miss one another. Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 44th Air
Defense Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort
Campbell Screaming Eagles, have been in Iraq for six months and will
probably be gone for another six months. A UMNS photo by Kathy L.
Gilbert. Photo number 03-290, Accompanies UMNS #431, 9/5/03
No Long Caption Available for this Story
Barbara
West, left, and Pam West, right, mother and wife of Capt. Ernest P. Jay
West, a United Methodist minister serving in Iraq as a U.S. Army
chaplain, model the hats Jay sent home to his children, Zach and Sami.
Their names are embroidered on the hats in Arabic. A UMNS photo by Kathy
L. Gilbert. Photo number 03-287, Accompanies UMNS #431, 9/5/03
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Capt.
Ernest P. Jay West, a U.S. Army chaplain serving his country in Iraq,
is the center of attention in a poster his family made to express their
love for him while he is away. The poster was one of many on display
during Operation Strike Span, an event to recognize and to honor the
fact that kids and spouses, parents and friends are missing one another.
Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment,
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell Screaming Eagles,
have been in Iraq for six months and will probably be gone for another
six months. A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert. Photo number 03-289,
Accompanies UMNS #431, 9/5/03
No Long Caption Available for this Story
Three
members of the 2-44 ADA who have died, Pfc. John Brown, Pfc. Daniel
Parker and Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Foley, were honored during the event.
Brown and Foley both died during Holy Week; Parker, in an accident just
weeks ago. Operation Strike Span was held during the Labor Day weekend
because it marks six months since the unit deployed to Iraq. A UMNS
photo courtesy of Chaplain Jay West. Photo number 03-292, Accompanies
UMNS #431, 9/5/03
No Long Caption Available for this Story
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (UMNS)--Zach turned 14 and made the high school baseball team.
Sami lost her front tooth and is enjoying second grade.
Not
exactly breaking news, but those kinds of little milestones in a
child's life are what thousands of military moms and dads are missing
every day as they serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Zach and
Sami's dad is Capt. Ernest P. Jay West, a United Methodist minister
serving in Iraq as a U.S. Army chaplain with the 2nd Battalion, 44th Air
Defense Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort
Campbell Screaming Eagles.
When it was announced that the 101st
Airborne Division would continue its duties in Iraq for another six
months, West and his commander, Lt. Col. Donald G. Fryc, thought it was
time to boost the morale between deployed soldiers and their families.
To
recognize and to honor the fact that kids and spouses, parents and
friends are missing one another, "Operation Strike Span," a name taken
from the regiment's slogan "Strike Fear,"was held on a recent muggy
summer day.
"You have the most important job in the army," Col.
Jeff Horne told the room full of family members. "You have to keep the
family together and things going on here at home. God is looking over
your shoulders."
Deployed soldiers' videotaped messages and
photos sent back home for the occasion, brought laughter, tears and
smiles to the crowd gathered in the recreation hall at Fort Campbell.
West
gave the invocation via videotape for the event, and took the
opportunity to tell his wife Pam, and Zach and Sami how much he loves
and misses them.
Other members of the 2-44 ADA also sent special
messages home to their wives and children through videotapes. One dad,
holding up his wallet full of family photos, told his kids he shows
their pictures to the children in Iraq.
The three members of the
2-44 ADA who have died, Pfc. John Brown, Pfc. Daniel Parker and Sgt.
1st Class Thomas Foley, were honored during the event. Brown and Foley
both died during Holy Week; Parker, in an accident just weeks ago.
Operation Strike Span was held during the Labor Day weekend because it
marks six months since the unit deployed to Iraq.
"We have six
months behind us with about six months more to go," says Pam West. She
helped plan the event and had hoped Jay would be able to come home to
share the time with her.
"In the middle of one of our planning
meetings, I heard he wouldn't be coming home," she says. "It was hard to
hear it that way, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized
having him home for just two weeks would have been hard also."
Pam and the children stay busy. Adjusting to Jay's being so far from home has been hard on all of them, she says.
"Things are just now starting to settle down," she says.
During
Operation Strike Span, the "home team" gave certificates of
appreciation to those who had sent care packages to the soldiers.
When West was deployed, he sent an invitation to several churches asking them to participate in "Operation Desert Care Package."
"I
thought it would be wonderful if we received 50 packages," he says. "I
was overwhelmed when I was able to deliver more than 500 care packages
to these men and women. This is truly an example of sharing God's love."
Don
and Sandy Sanders, members of Calvary United Methodist Church in
Keyser, W.Va., where West was pastor for four years before becoming an
Army chaplain, traveled to Fort Campbell to accept a certificate on
behalf of their church.
"It was hard to lose Jay because we came
to love him and his family so much," Sandy says. "But it clear this is
where God wants them to be."
Young mothers carried babies and
held on to the hands of toddlers as they enjoyed a potluck lunch
together. After the lunch, families gathered at different booths to
record video messages, write letters, send e-mail messages, take digital
photos and sign large paper banners. All of the messages of love will
be sent to the unit with soldiers leaving Fort Campbell on their way to
Iraq.
"It is hard not having Dad here to talk to," Zach says. "I will be glad when he comes home and we are a whole family again."
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