You Never Really Know...

how much you can love someone until you have kids. It's a love so strong that you can't imagine it until you've experienced it. It provides you with the ability to know that you will do whatever you need to in order to ensure you children are safe and happy. Then they grow up. It doesn't mean you love them less, in fact, just the opposite. As they grow and become adults, you realize how lucky you are to have raised such good and decent people, they become the product of everything you believe in.

My oldest son and daughter have grown to be exactly what I had always wished for them. Happy and good people.

I just found out today, that my son may be deployed to Iraq. He spent a year in Afghanistan several years ago. He joined the Army after realizing he wasn't ready for college. I cried for 2 weeks before he left for boot camp - the thought of him hurting and being yelled at for all those weeks was almost more than I could bear. But he's strong and did well. I should have known.

After spending three years in Monterey learning Korean, he graduated as a Korean Linguist and did so well. I should have known.

With a bad knee, after graduating, Jake was given an honorable discharge from the Army. It was right after 9/11 and Jake was bothered to know that those he had served with would be going to defend our country and he would be safe at home. It wasn't what he wanted so he came home and joined the Army National Guard in Boise and was soon deployed to Afghanistan for a year. He came home on leave for a few weeks during his deployment and married his soul mate Heather. A few months later he was home and back to work out at Gowen Field. He was home safe and happy. I should have known.

Today, I worry most about Heather and their daughter Grace. Heather is a very strong woman and I know she'll be so supportive of Jake, but I know how very much she loves him and how much she'll miss him. But, Jake is ready to go if called. I should have known...

The following is from the Idaho Statesman. I heard about Jake's possible deployment on the news. I'm just kind of numb.

The Idaho Army Guard unit that spent almost a year in Iraq in 2004 and 2005 — and nearly two years away from home — could be returning to Iraq for another year-long duty.

If the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team is mobilized, these forces would replace other units sometime next year. Right now, the state has gotten its first notification, and there is no defined timeline.

About 2,400 of the 3,500 the 116th’s members are from Idaho, with most of the rest from Montana and Oregon.

Idaho's citizen soldiers should begin putting their personal, financial and family affairs in order, although the alert doesn't automatically mean the 116th will be deployed.

"Idahoans once again will have to adjust and come together as an Idaho family in support of those deployed and those who serve on the home front," Idaho Gov. Butch Otter. "...They are our family members, employees, college students, teachers and neighbors."

The governor is commander-in-chief of the state's military forces, except when they are called into actual service of the United States.

"I have every confidence the brigade will represent our state well if our men and women are mobilized again," Otter said. "Idahoans should be aware, however, that any deployment will impact communities, businesses, families and individuals throughout our state."

The 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team’s primary wartime mission is to provide battlefield commanders with armored reconnaissance, tanks, heavy artillery, logistics support and personnel. Since the brigade returned from its 18-month mobilization for Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005, the soldiers have also focused on training for stability, support and security missions.