11.28.07

November 28th, 2007. The day Brent left for Iraq. A date I feel right now I will probably always remember, and not exactly a day I would ever want to live through again. Unfortunately, it is always a possibility that we will, so for now I can only hope we are lucky, and that that second deployment never comes.

It was an experience like no other- they load their gear onto trucks, you have two hours to stand around with the other however many Marines that are deploying and their families- spending your last moments together, they get on the bus, and it drives away. That's it.

People are asking "how'd it go?" I guess it went "well." I'm not really sure how to describe it. It was kind of a surreal experience. There were whole families, men saying goodbye to their children as well as their wives, and some men without wives that had their parents there. There were men years younger than Brent going over for their second or third times. I spoke with one woman holding her daughter that said this was their fourth deployment. She said, "I'm kind of sick of them." All I could think was that I was sick of this one and Brent hadn't even left yet. As sorry as I was feeling for myself, it did kind of put things into perspective.

So for now, I keep telling myself the worst part is over. Now that he has left it means we can count down until the day he comes home. Each day he is gone means he is one day closer to coming home.

Brent's final words to me as he walked toward the bus were, "be good." I think in code that meant "don't spend too much money." Be safe Brent, no hidden meaning there- see you in July.

Brent and the guys loading their gear

Quick brief with their team leader

There are two sides to every deployment

The 15-man Transition Team Brent is deploying with