Loved Ones Overseas

Inside April 22, 2003's Issue

-Features-

Tom's Grave

Factory Farming

Spring Fling

Georgia Highlands College speaks out about loved ones overseas

By Michelle Huskins
Staff Writer

The telephone rings on the desk of Andrea Mathis, network systems senior specialist for Georgia Highlands College, but it is not a routine call. The phone lines have connected her to her brother, Tony Mathis, stationed thousands of miles away in Afghanistan with the 310th chemical unit of the Army.

Tony Mathis, brother of Andrea Mathis He has waited in line over an hour for this opportunity to use the phone because he is not certain when he will have this chance again before further deployment.

Before being sent to Afghanistan Tony spent time in Korea, and is now preparing to leave for Baghdad. The emotion on Mathis’s face conveys what this call means to her.

Both Mathis’s brother and her brother-in-law, David Miller, were called in from the reserves shortly after Sep. 11, 2002.

Her brother was a newlywed of only a week before he had to leave, and Miller has yet to see his son, born in October 2002.

Many other Georgia Highlands College staff and students know firsthand how precious these conversations are, as they too eagerly await messages from their loved ones serving in the war effort.

Bryan Carson, son of Dr. Virginia Carson, vice president of academic affairs. An e-mail connection delivers comfort to Dr.Virginia Carson, vice president of academic affairs, whose son, Bryan, joined the Marines after graduating from Georgia Southern University.

His reserve commitment was scheduled to end December 2002. Instead he was called to active duty in January 2003 and has spent the last six weeks in a 15-man tent in the desert in Kuwait.

Bryan is not the first in his family to be stationed in the desert. His grandfather, Virginia’s father, spent three years in a desert in Persia (present day Iran) during World War II. After this Army veteran returned home, he never left the house without a container of water.

A call home on his father’s birthday, one month ago, gave Bryan an opportunity to hear how proud his entire family is of him.

Beanie Weenies, baby wipes and cookies are what Staff Sgt. Connor Middleton hopes to find in the care package his mother, Sheryl Middleton, and Amanda Mayo, his sister, both Georgia Highlands College students, are sending.

Staff Sgt. Connor Middleton and wife Kimbre “It is very hard for me and the rest of the family because he is the only son,” said Sheryl. “God is what keeps me going and helps me not to worry very much.”

“I am concerned about the hot sun; he has already been sunburned very badly,” she said. Sheryl adds that she will include burn cream and lots of love with the package headed for Kuwait.

For now, e-mail and text messages keep Connor connected to his family, including his wife, young daughter Kate and five-month-old son Gannon.

Not being able to communicate with her husband, Shea, is the hardest part for Allison Ledbetter, life-long friend of Candy Gibbs, an FC human services major.

Shea Ledbetter and his family He is in the Army Rangers Special Forces and left for Iraq over a month ago. That was the last time Allison spoke with him. “I know he is doing what he really wants to do and that makes it easier,” she said.

Their two small boys, ages five and six, are proud of their brave father, but anxiously look forward to his return. “They really miss him on the weekends, because that’s when they spend the most time with him,” said Allison.

Allison is thankful for her connection with other military wives and a supportive family that join her in praying for a speedy reunion.

Until that day comes, the message on her answering machine is a greeting to her much missed husband, including the birthday chorus sung by Brett and Christian.

Surely Shea will be back home to open gifts on his next birthday, but until then he gives his country a gift of service during this critical time in history.

Writer’s Comment:

A war clearly affects us all, but none more than the families of our military. On campus are many of these family and friends that stand as a reminder of these sacrifices for freedom.

Even some Georgia Highlands College students have been called to active duty, leaving empty seats in our classrooms.

Countless other Americans follow the news of the war effort with great care and concern for these honorable men and women.

This sacrifice is not only a price paid for our freedoms, but a gift given to us by the selfless men and women who trade time away from their own families to secure, defend and protect.

Many are showing their support by displaying yellow ribbons and filling care packages with comforting items for deployed soldiers.

Andrea Mathis utilizes some helpful websites that offer support to her brother and brother-in-law, as well as other service members, while they are stationed overseas.

Undivided support is the most fitting way to honor our troops, and we join with their families in hoping for a swift and safe conclusion to the world events that have separated them.