Homecoming ends for 201st soldiers, families

By KENNETH HART
The Independent

ASHLAND April 30, 2008 10:53 pm

— The homecoming was nice. But, it was too brief and went by far too quickly.
That was the most common sentiment expressed Wednesday by members of the Kentucky National Guard’s 201st Engineer Battalion and their families as they prepared to spend the next several months apart from one another.
Approximately 500 members of the 201st departed armories in Ashland, Olive Hill, Cynthiana and Prestonsburg for a 10-month deployment in Orgune, Afghanistan, which is about 15 miles from that country’s border with Pakistan.
The soldiers had spent the previous five days at home with their families, thanks to a generous donation from Kentucky businessman Bill Baird. On Wednesday, battalion members were transported via chartered buses to Fort McCoy, Wis. From there, they are expected to leave for Afghanistan almost immediately.
There were prayer circles, lengthy embraces and plenty of tears Wednesday as soldiers prepared to board the two buses parked on 26th Street outside the Ashland National Guard Armory.
Some soldiers said it was having to bid farewell to their loved ones a second time that made leaving for this mission particularly difficult.
“Going back and forth and saying good-bye over and over again, that’s tough,” said E5 Zachary Kersey of Greenup County.
That’s not to say Kersey didn’t appreciate being able to spend a few days with his girlfriend of four years, Tera Tackett, before shipping out.
“We’d been going non-stop, night and day (prior to last week’s homecoming),” he said. “It was kind of nice to take a break.”
Tackett said she was “not comfortable at all” with her companion leaving to spend the better part of a year in one of the most dangerous places in the world. She also said it would be the first significant time the two would be apart since they started dating.
Kersey’s mother, Melanie Kersey, described her son’s departure as “bittersweet,” adding she was proud of the “fine young man and fine soldier” he’d turned out to be. But, at the same time, Melanie Kersey said she couldn’t wait to start planning his homecoming celebration.
Lee Ann Moore of Catlettsburg said she and her husband, Master Sgt. Michael Moore, hosted a pig roast to celebrate his birthday, Christmas and all of the other holidays during which he’ll be gone all while he was at home.
“We’re proud of him for what he’s doing,” said the Moores’ 21-year-old daughter, Kasie. “But we’re looking at it selfishly, because we don’t want him to go. He’s the one who’s being selfless.”
Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Royster of Lloyd said he took advantage of his home time to perform various “honey-do” chores around his house and to visit his children in Richmond.
Royster said he would have liked to have been able to participate in more outdoor activities with his family, “but the weather didn’t cooperate.”
About 4:20 p.m., the troops assembled for a roll call on the front lawn of the armory. Once it was finished, Royster told the soldiers to continue visiting with their families but admonished them to stay close by and to be ready to leave as soon as the buses arrived.
“No Wal-Mart runs, nothing like that,” he told them. “You’re here.”
Sarah Vansickle, 3, saw her father, Spec. Brian Vansickle of South Shore, off in a set of desert camouflage fatigues identical to the ones he was wearing, albeit much smaller.
“She wants to do everything just like her dad,” said her mother, Rebecca Vansickle, 21. “She’s asked if she could go to work with him, and we’ve had to explain to her why she couldn’t.”
Rebecca Vansickle said her husband, who works in the tire and lube center at the New Boston Wal-Mart in civilian life, would be overseas for the couple’s fourth anniversary in July. She said he’d be greatly missed by her, Sarah and the couple’s other two daughters, Emilee, 21 months, and Brianna, 6 months.
E5 Sgt. Diana Arthur of Catlettsburg, a 13-year veteran of the National Guard, said she was anxious for the battalion’s mission to get under way “so we can get done and get back home.”
Arthur spent her last few minutes before boarding one of the buses frolicking on the armory lawn with her 10-year-old son, Sam.
When the time came for the buses to leave, family members lined the sidewalk and waved as the two vehicles pulled slowly away.
While on deployment, members of the 201st will perform various duties, including cooking, clearing routes, providing security to high-ranking military officials and doing control and logistics work.
KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.

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