In the relative quiet of my home, I looked at the calendar and realized exactly one month has passed since I left the “sandbox” behind again, after a long year away from most of what I know and love.
This was my second yearlong tour in four years and I left with the hope that I will never return to the Middle East, at least not in a uniformed capacity.
Paying homage to one of my favorite films, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” my homecoming has felt similar to that of Frodo Baggins.
Nearly 12 months passed since Uncle Sam sent us on our long journey, and I found myself looking upon a familiar sight: I was home. However, for as joyous as being home is, Frodo spoke the truth when he said the homecoming does not solve everything.
“How do you pick up the threads of an old life?” he asked. “How do you go on when in your heart you begin to understand there is no going back?”
For me, that finality is beginning to set in, and while I selfishly sit here now counting my blessings to have safely returned home, I cannot forget that thousands of my brothers and sisters remain8212;some in harm’s way.
Moreover, thousands of the troops I just left are on their third or fourth dangerous and grueling tour, and thousands more of my friends (including a few of the men and women I just served with) will be sent to an increasingly violent Afghanistan to play their part in supporting the fight to root out the Taliban and al-Qaida.
Still, returning home to an unsettled country in economic turmoil presents its own challenges, and while our brave men and women are combating terrorists, the rest of us here are fighting off a different kind of terrorism: unemployment.
Although I am behind the power curve in this regard, I am determined to support my family. As the reality of Iraq fades away, the reality of this life begins to kick in and I realize I have to hit the ground running.
Like many other unemployed people, I do not have the prospect of a job to return to once my active duty orders expire. Moreover, I have two years of a bachelor’s degree to finish and a small family to support, all while fending off the competition for the few meaningful jobs that are out there.
With all of this reality splashing down on top of me like cold water, I am still unable to completely center my focus on the here and now. I still smell the dust of the desert air. My sleep schedule is off. I am waiting for the guy I used to be to take over and live this civilian life again.
Truth be told, for many of us who have been “there and back again,” and “there and back again” again, Frodo said it best: “There are some things that time cannot mend8212;some hurts that go too deep8212;that have taken hold.”
Although the job my unit was asked to do was comparatively easy, the toll the time apart took on some of us and our family members might never let us fully recover.
When it was all said and done however, the memories of what we (soldiers and family members) learned and achieved collectively will provide some degree of solace and payback for the sacrifices we all had to make.
In terms of my wife and me, there should be nothing that will ever come between us now that would ever make us question the mutual commitment we have for each other and our little family. If nothing else, surviving a year apart has made our hearts grow fonder and proved to us we can overcome anything.
The flip side is my young child gradually finding her role in this reborn world that includes Dad again. Time will tell if the issues she has had while I’ve been away will be overcome or if that hurt goes too deep.
Among my peers and me, though I will depart from them and from the service in the next 90 days, the memories of what we accomplished and the growth we made as individuals because of each other will never be forgotten.
In turn, as it ended for Frodo, Sam and the “Fellowship of the Ring,” so too has this journey ended for Doug, Brock, Whit, Top, Ma’am and the rest of the 128th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.
Brief as our parting at the airport was, with respects to Brock and Whit in particular, I am “eternally bound by friendship” and gratitude to these men and women. It was my honor to serve at their side, and I love them.
Editor’s Note8212;Douglas L. York is a former U student who recently returned home after serving with the Utah Army Air National Guard’s 128th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment in Baghdad, Iraq. For feedback on this column or its contents, write Douglas at [email protected] or via the USPS at:
Douglas L. York
P.O. Box 681
Magna, UT 84044-0681
Douglas L. York