Moms get good and bad news from Iraq

[darrels joy]

Moms get good and bad news from Iraq

It's a tale of two mothers.
Both have sons who have fought in Iraq. Both have reasons to stay awake into the early morning hours, waiting for the phone to ring or a message to light up on their computer screens to tell them their sons are alive.

One mother is from the Yakima Valley, the other from New York state. Though thousands of miles separate them, they are kindred spirits. They speak the common language of all families with loved ones in the battlefield, repeating words of fear and anguish, always ending in a prayerful tone of quiet resolve and hope. Always hope.

In the past two weeks, both mothers have shared good news and bad.


First, let's hear the good news.
For Elaine Heaton, the librarian at East Valley Central Middle School whom I wrote about two Sundays ago, the past few weeks have been tense.

Now, though, she has reason to be a bit more optimistic. Her son may soon be getting the radios that he and his Army National Guard unit have been lacking. Her 40-year-old son, whose identity Heaton asked to be protected, is a captain in the 248th Support Command, 81st Armor Brigade, based at Fort Lewis.

In e-mails he sent home, her son has complained about not having adequate supplies ? critical items such as concrete shelters, barb wire and ammunition. Stationed in a base camp outside of Mosul in northern Iraq, he and his men have had to sleep in tin-roofed quarters.

Heaton's son has also complained bitterly about being unable to secure Motorola radios so he and his men could communicate while on patrol.

Those radios may soon be reaching his unit. In a conversation Wednesday from his office in Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings of Pasco told me the Department of Defense has recently ordered 17,000 radios for the troops in Iraq. Furthermore, Hastings said he has personally contacted authorities concerning the lack of supplies for the 248th Support Command unit.

Though he has not heard of many complaints similar to those voiced by Heaton's son, Hastings said Congress and the U.S. government must move swiftly whenever there are instances where supplies are lacking, especially for those in the front lines.

"We must make sure they have enough equipment," the Republican congressman said.

Much has changed since Hastings visited Iraq earlier this year when he said morale was high and attacks infrequent. He even traveled through Mosul, where Heaton's son is based.

In the past week, while Marines and other military forces focused on retaking Fallujah, new uprisings spread throughout Mosul.

"We are in an all-out fight now," Heaton's son wrote a week ago. "I am sitting here with a loaded rifle on my lap. The enemy are coming to us. We do not have to find them."

Though Heaton's son hopes the new radios will eventually reach his unit, he still fears for the safety of those under his command.

"These men and women deserve the full wartime mobilization support of a nation they are fighting for. We are in full-scale war over here. It is time to get the full weight of support behind those that are fighting and dying for our nation."


The sacrifices being made by those in Iraq is certainly felt by the mother from New York state, Sherry Conaway. She read on the Internet about Elaine Heaton's plea for her son and wrote to tell me about her son, Caylen.

He's a Marine sniper with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Division. He has done well in the military, and the officers picked him as the best in his class at Camp Pendleton and quickly promoted him to staff sergeant, his mom said. Caylen celebrated his 25th birthday in Iraq.

Her e-mail dated Nov. 8 stated her son was in the worst place to be in Iraq, "smack dab in the middle of Fallujah, better known as the 'Green Zone.' " In another day or two, the offensive would begin to rid the city of insurgents, and her son would be part of that offensive. He told her in a phone conversation he would be gone for more than a month and would be out of touch for the entire time.

"I tried very hard to overcome my sadness by telling him that he only has 10 more weeks to go and not to worry that everything will be OK and he will be home before you know it."

"Trying to encourage him before he goes to battle is something that I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be doing."

Earlier in the year, her son almost came back home to his wife, who lives at the Marine base in Camp Pendleton. He was going to train new snipers, but his orders, which were ready to be finalized, got revoked. So there he remained in Iraq, in the middle of the firestorm that is Fallujah.

Conaway ended her message with a prayer: "I am very grateful to hear my son's voice before he left to infiltrate the city of Fallujah and pray for his safe return and the safe return of every service person dedicating their lives to our freedom. Something that everyone in this nation should be doing every night also."

I sent her a response, telling her to stay in touch and let me know about her son. "You and your son are in my thoughts," I told her.

The very next day, another e-mail arrived from Conaway. Here's how it began:

"I received a call this a.m. from my son and he was hit by shrapnel in his knee and was getting ready to fly out of Baghdad for surgery. He said that his knee is pretty much gone and that it had just happened."

Hearing directly from a son, wounded and heavily medicated, would send any mother into an emotional tailspin. Conaway was no exception.

"Everyone is pretty shakin' up and his poor wife is beside herself."

In this age of instant messaging and satellite phones, news from the front lines come fast and unfiltered.

Her son was in what she called "urban combat" when he was wounded. He was "running through the street and saw a flash of yellow out of the corner of his eye and then went down. It hit him in the right knee and took off his knee cap."

Conaway said her son was being flown to San Diego for reconstructive surgery, and what doctors warned would be a long and painful recovery.

Despite knowing her son was badly injured, Conaway admitted she was happy he would be returning to the States.

"Our prayers worked and God has plucked him out of there."

But for the other Marines fighting alongside her son, the toll was heavy. One Marine died in the fight and several others were seriously injured.

As the warfare in Iraq rages on, there will be other mothers picking up the phone and checking their e-mail messages, wondering what has happened to their sons and daughters.

It is a ritual that has no end, except when the fighting ends.


Coordinating editor Spencer Hatton can be reached by phone at 577-7670, or by e-mail at shatton@yakima-herald.com.