Chickasha’s Trinity Church held a special going-away service for four members of its congregation on Sunday, including its pastor, Billy Elkins.
A pair of yellow ribbons greeted parishioners as they entered the building, and a poster of the four men being deployed, Elkins, Doug Brown, James Smith and James Heston, hung in the lobby.
In addition, widely-framed copies of the same photo were placed on a table in the center of the light-filled lobby along with pens and markers for church members to sign and wish the men well.
Each man will carry one of the autographed photos with him when he goes off to war. They are part of the 1st 158th Battalion being deployed.
While Pastor Elkins is not looking forward to leaving his family, his sense of duty outweighs his reluctance.
“I will miss my family, but I think it is an honor and a privilege to do what I do as a chaplain,” said Elkins. “It’s going to be difficult, these are critical years to leave the kids at their ages, but I intend to try and stay in contact with them through the Internet, e-mail and pod casts. I know I’ll miss some important stuff, but we’ll make it through and we’ll be fine.”
Awaiting Elkins’ return from Iraq will be his wife Crystal and sons Billy, III, 16, Reagan, 14, and Noah, 11.
As a chaplain, Elkins will not carry a weapon when he arrives in Iraq as a Bible will be more fitting for the tasks at hand.
“My task as a chaplain is to guarantee freedom of religion among the soldiers, to provide religious service and act as a counselor for the soldiers. I think it is an important task,” Elkins said.
Because many of the soldiers are quite young, ranging in age from 18 to 26, some newly married, they may have issues about leaving their wives and families, about money and other issues as well.
“We have to take a look at a lot of those issues,” said Elkins. “If they are really concerned about home issues, it can be dangerous if their minds are at home and not on the mission at hand.”
While three of the men will be sent to Iraq, Doug Brown will be heading for Kuwait.
A seasoned veteran, Brown has been involved in several operations, including the first gulf war, operation Noble Eagle, a Homeland Security operation, and his unit was also on the list for Iraqi Freedom, but was pulled and did not go, spending more than 10 months at Ft. Sill instead.
“It was an eye opener as far as deployment can have on families,” said Brown. “All my oldest daughter knew about war was what she saw on TV. I came home on weekends and she didn’t see me Monday through Friday. My chaplain suggested I show her what I was doing so I took her to Ft. Sill. She was confused and asked me, ‘Daddy, where’s the war?’”
After Brown explained to his daughter that the war was far away, he said she was fine with deployment after that.
Now 10, Brown’s daughter has a better understanding of deployment and, though she and her closest sister are struggling with it, they can look on the globe and see where they are and where their father is in relation to them.
“I want to go because it is the right thing to do, but I don’t enjoy the thought of being separated from my family,” said Brown.
In 1991, during a cease-fire in the Gulf War, Brown found a telephone tent in southern Iraq. At 2 a.m., ankle deep in sand and his teeth chattering from the cold, he called his girlfriend Kelly and asked her to marry him. Forgetting about the several second delay on the telephone, Brown feared the worst when Kelly did not answer him immediately. He was relieved when the answer came through.
“Yea, I thought that was understood,” answered Kelly.
They were married a year later and today they are the proud parents of four daughters, Lauren, 12, Lydia, 10, Laney, 7 and Lucy, 2.
My four girls are the reason I want to go,” said Brown. “They kind of rock my world.”
James Smith is the third man to be deployed, and while this is his first deployment, it is his second time to join the military.
“Three years ago, I was approached by Colonel Brown about a chaplainacy,” said Smith. “I thought about it and I prayed about it and I rejoined after 18 years.”
Brown, who is working on his Master’s Degree in religious education, says he has “mixed emotions” about leaving his wife Sylvia and their two children, Lane, 14, and Tori, 12.
“I’m excited about serving my country and anxious about leaving my family, but God has a plan and we’re in His hands,” said Smith.
“I trust he will be in the Lord’s hands and so will we,” said Sylvia. “Now we can start planning for the time we’ll be reunited again.”
“I’ve got big plans for when I come back,” laughed Smith.
The fourth man who will soon leave for Iraq is James Heston, husband of Misti and father of Caleb, 6, and Kylee, six months.
In the military since 1992, this is Heston’s first trip to Iraq, but he was deployed to Haiti in 1994.
As for going to Iraq, Heston says, “It’s my duty and it’s my job.”
“As for leaving my family, that hurts,” he says. “It’s hard to leave them, but I know they’re in good hands. People ask me if I’m ready to deploy with the military and I tell them it’s like being on a basketball team - practice, practice, practice - you never get to play the game.”
Now, for good or ill, Heston and his friends get to play the game.
Local News
Related Photos
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Four Grady County men, all members of the 1st 158th Battalion, have been deployed, with three headed for Iraq and one going to Kuwait. Shown are (back row, left) Doug Brown and James Heston. Front (left) are Trinity Church Pastor Billy Elkins and James Smith.
Discussion
Church sends four members to deployment in Iraq
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