NOTEBOOK FROM MOSUL: Bill Nemitz

Deployed couple missing a year of seeing their children grow

Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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Staff photo by Gregory Rec Spc. Franz Oberlerchner, right, and Spc. Matthew Perkins join hands with teammates at the end of a time out during a basketball game Thursday at Camp Marez. The Headquarters Support Company team, called the 133rd Sleepers, beat a Stryker Brigade team 39-36 in overtime.

In Iraq Visit the Special Section: In Iraq for news, slide shows, messages to the troops and more. In Iraq: April 30, 2004 (5 photos) Send a Message: Troops in Iraq are dealing with the loss of a comrade. Send a message of support to Maine soldiers. Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram journalists Bill Nemitz and Gregory Recare inside Iraq covering firsthand the deployment of the 133rd Engineer Battalion of the Maine Army National Guard. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Tell us what you think about the job the Maine Army National Guard 133rd Engineer Battalion is doing in Iraq and what you think of our coverage from Mosul. Write to: insideiraq@pressherald.com or to Inside Iraq, Portland Press Herald, 390 Congress St., Portland ME 04101. Please include your name and telephone number for confirmation, as we may print your comments with a future installment. If you want to take a position for or against the war, please write a letter to the editor. Address those to: Voice of the People, Portland Press Herald, P.O. Box 1460, Portland ME 04101 or to letterstotheeditor@pressherald.com To top of story

You might think serving together as a married couple in Iraq would be only half as hard as having one spouse at Camp Marez and the other in Maine.

But in the case of Sgt. Maj. David Wilkinson and Sgt. Alicia Wilkinson of Standish, you'd be wrong.

For the Wilkinsons, being deployed together is hardship to the extreme. They left behind three children - Jessica, 18, Olivia, 4, and Emily, 2. The younger girls are staying with Alicia's sister.

"It's very hard," Alicia said, sitting outside the couple's barracks Wednesday evening. "I try not to think about it."

"It's tough," David agreed.

It turns out there is no rule in the military that prohibits husbands and wives from being deployed on active duty together - even when they have children.

And while another soldier volunteered to step in for Alicia, who serves as the Headquarters Support Company's operations sergeant, her request to stay home with the girls was denied.

"There's a moral issue, but not an Army issue," said Alicia, who is clearly not happy with the decision.

The Wilkinsons said they will forgo their two-week leaves - no sense putting the kids through a second farewell - and bank the time for when the 133rd's deployment ends.

And they will count the days.

THE WILKINSONS' family connection is one of many throughout the 133rd.

There's one other married couple: Spc. Julie Rand and Sgt. Patrick Rand of Gray.

There's also a father-and-son combination: Sgt. Archie Etheridge and Spc. Avery Etheridge, both of Old Orchard Beach.

Next come the brothers: Spc. Daniel Lackie of Orr's Island and Spc. Kenneth Lackie of Burnham; Spc. Ronald Cyr and Sgt. Jason Cyr, both of Lewiston; Sgt. Carl Bowers of Old Town and Spc. Glen Bowers of Medford; and Spc. James Robichaud of Dixfield and Sgt. Jon Robichaud of Mexico.

THEN THERE ARE the uncles and nephews: Spc. Joseph Speck of Augusta and Pfc. Jesse Daniels of Gardiner; and Sgt. 1st Class Roderick Darling and Spc. Michael Darling, both of Buckfield.

THE EASIEST WAY to tell a soldier's home state is by the patch on his or her left shoulder.

Members of the 133rd Engineer Battalion wear the Maine National Guard insignia, which shows a green pine tree growing from a green mound, silhouetted against a yellow sun with 13 pointed rays.

The pine tree, of course, signifies that Maine is the Pine Tree State. The sun denotes the fact that Maine is the first state in the union touched by the sun each morning.

The green mound stands for the state's widespread natural beauty.

And the 13 rays?

They stand for the 13 original colonies, which include Maine (if you don't mind saying you're originally from Massachusetts.)

THIS JUST IN: The 133rd Sleepers, Headquarters Support Company's basketball team, beat a team from the 3rd Stryker Brigade in a 39-36 cliffhanger Thursday evening.

The winning basket was scored, in overtime, by Spc. Christien Bolduc of Sanford.

During the game, a female soldier rooting for the Strykers (a regular Army unit) turned to Spc. Tracy Jipson of Gorham and exclaimed, "They can't be a National Guard team! They're too good!"

FINALLY, Spc. Dan Lackie wants to publicly thank the folks at Kennebec Builders in Brunswick for putting in a baby room at his home on Orr's Island.

Lackie had planned to hire a couple of co-workers to do the job. But when his wife, Jamie, and 8-month-old son, Daniel III, went away for a few days, the guys from work "basically broke in" and renovated the room from floor to ceiling.

"And now they won't let me pay for it," Lackie said.

In the interest of full disclosure, it turns out the specialist's thank you is motivated by more than good manners. Lackie's boss told him that if he managed to get Kennebec Builders Inc.'s name into the newspaper, he'd get a promotion when he comes home.

Congratulations on the new position, Spc. Lackie.

- Bill Nemitz

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