This is cross posted from Dailykos
Since March 10th, 2006 I've been on recruiter duty in California. Now I get to go back to Fort Bragg, North Carolina where I met my wife. She's happy that she gets to go back to her family. My family (particularly my mother) is sad because this is where I grew up, and they liked having me around. In the end though I'm looking forward to going back to my real job.
So as of right now I'm on PCS (Permanent Change of Station) Leave, which means I'm taking time off to get my affairs in order. We're starting our trip back to NC on July 5th, so you won't hear from me from me during this period. When we get back there we'll be looking to buy a house.
An interesting story: when I met my wife Yolanda we had planned on eloping right before I shipped off to Iraq. My mother flew out, and we gathered close friends and family and we all went to the courthouse late Friday night. I was to ship out first thing Monday morning. We were told we could get married 24/7, but what the clerk failed to tell us is you can only get a marriage license Mon-Fri during normal business hours.
So we were stuck. But my mother had a plan. She has a friend that works for NBC, and she gave him an idea for a great personal interest story. Basically it went like this, "Get your legal team together. If you have a way for them to still get married, you got a great story." And so it went.
As it turns out California is one of three states where you can legally get married by proxy if one person is deployed to combat. It required a special power of attorney to be sent to Iraq, and then signed by me and two officers. My Platoon Leader told me, "I'll only sign this if you let me consummate the wedding." I kind of laughted. "Umm... yeah. OK, sir." So the POA was mailed back to the states and it look a long time to get it back. It finally arrived, get this, on Christmas day!
I mailed it back, and after I they received it my wife's family flew out to California. The head judge for Santa Clara County courthouse opened up his courtroom on a Saturday, just for us, and refused to charge us for his services. I was given a phone number and time to call (from Baghdad) so I could get married over the telephone.
So a couple of my Army buddies followed me to the phone center and stood by while I said my wedding vows. And on Jan 15th, 2005 I was married from the other side of the world. The wedding document had to be signed by two witnesses. For one of them I chose my nephew, Freddy, who I think was 11 at the time. He simply signed his name "FREDDY", as if it was a school paper. The judge had to tell him, "um... last name, too."
NBC11 did a big, two-part special on the event. Garvin Thomas even came to my welcome home ceremony, which I thought was pretty cool.
There's a strong likelihood that I will deploy shortly after I go back to the 82nd. I'm hoping for Afghanistan, but if I go back to Iraq I certainly won't complain. When that happens the toughest thing will be getting my five year old step-daughter to understand. She cries if I'm gone a week. It will be extremely hard on her if I'm gone for a full year.
Here's some pictures from Fort Bragg and some from Iraq.
Me and "the Boss"
A self portrait taken at about 800 feet
The guys taking a break out in the field
Some Iraqi National Guard
Iraqi Police Commandos
An Iraqi girl
The Tigris River
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