Eileen Aune is like a lot of military moms, in that she worries about her boys. John Aune, 27, and his brother Andrew, 25, left for Iraq last March as part of the largest deployment in Minnesota National Guard history. They were supposed to be gone a year. "We were counting down to March.
"At the holidays, Christmas time, I sent the guys rolls of lifesavers, and when you buy that package of five, there's 84 lifesavers in that package, so I sent it to them and said, 'eat one of these every day, and when you're done, that will be just about the day you get to come home,', Aune recalls.
That was before last night, when Eileen and thousands of other families learned that the President's troop surge would mean an extension for Minnesota's 1st Brigade Combat team. "What ran through my mind was the worry that they're going to get home safely," Aune said.
"It seems like we've had a very bad couple of months for the guys from Minnesota, and it seems like the longer you're there, your luck starts to run out."
Governor Tim Pawlenty was not shy about his disappointment that the Guard's mission could be extended up to 125 days. That would bring the 2,600 soldiers home in July, instead of March.
"You can imagine being in trailer or a tough situation in Iraq for a year having a calendar up on the wall and counting down the days 'till you thought you were going home in March and have that extended by some period of time."
Major General Larry Shellito of the Minnesota National Guard admits the troops are disappointed, but says he worries more about the spouses and families that have been hanging on by a thread, waiting for their loved ones to return. Eileen Aune says she's getting through by praying, e-mailing and phoning her sons, and meeting with her friends in the Blue Star Moms support group.
"We don't really discuss a lot of things," she says. "We just understand how each other feels. Sometimes there's crying, sometimes there's laughing, it's just knowing there are other people who understand."
For more on the Blue Star Moms, e-mail the North Metro Chapter at bluestarmomsofmn@aol.com
(Copyright 2007 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
(Copyright 2007 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
