Deployed soldiers find comfort in mementos

Jan. 21, 2007

By SHARON McBRIDE

Frontiersman

SOUTHWEST ASIA - Teddy bears, G.I. Joe dolls, rosaries, memorial cards - you won't find these items on any of the Army's standard packing lists for deploying soldiers. But these are the kinds of things that soldiers are taking on their deployments and that loved ones are sending them while they are away.

Many soldiers consider them as portable pieces of home because in an instant they can ease the heartache of separation that comes with deployment.

&#8220Well, it started when my wife sent me a care package,” said Sgt. Timothy Shull, a chaplain assistant who works with the 377th Theater Support Command in Kuwait. &#8220There were things in it like a picture album, movies and then a G.I. Joe doll. She said, somehow it reminded her of me. Why she sent it to me, I don't know. But I got it.

&#8220When I brought him out, everyone loved it, and the next thing I knew, people were taking pictures of themselves with the doll,” he said. &#8220He reminds me of all the people I left back home to come here. He reminds me that no matter how far away I get, there are still people back home supporting me.

&#8220This is what matters,” Shull said. &#8220It feels good knowing there are people at home who are proud of me and still remember who I am.”

During his year-long deployment, he said he's seen a lot of soldiers with various mementos of home. It's standard issue, although you won't find it on any official list, he said.

&#8220It's [items] that brings home closer with just a quick glance,” Shull said. &#8220When they are feeling down, they have a piece of home right there in their pocket or in their bag.”

For a lot of soldiers, their mementos serve as a reminder of where they came from.

1st Lt. Ryan Pace, an automotive officer, with the 143rd Transportation Command in Kuwait, carries with him an item from his grandfather who died in 2003.

&#8220It's a palm-size prayer card,” he said. &#8220One side has an angel with

a prayer on it and the other has

his picture and a poem about

gardening.

&#8220As a young man I was a trouble-maker,” said the 25-year-old from Orlando, Fla. &#8220He was glad to see me join the Army because it straightened me out. He was a father figure to me when I was growing up.

&#8220Now I keep this prayer card with me, and it makes me feel like even though he's gone, he's still looking out for me,” Pace said. &#8220We don't have much here [while deployed], but it's a piece of home. Soldiers can never have too many reminders of that.”

Sgt. Christy Kupiec-Fox, a soldier with the 226th Division Aviation Support Battalion, in Kuwait, agreed.

&#8220My pictures and other items that I got from family members help me get by,” she said.

Besides photos, she has a Teddy bear that her 7-year-old brother gave her, the bear also has his voice recorded on it.

&#8220He kept saying ‘a year is a long time,'” she said. &#8220He was so afraid that I would forget him. So he gave me this bear so I wouldn't forget what he sounded like.”

Her baby brother also gave her a pillow with his picture on it. And she received a crucifix from concerned neighbors who live in her town.

&#8220Ware, Mass., is a really small town,” she said. And even though it's small, people from there deploying are becoming more and more common, she said.

&#8220It's become a tradition. If someone deploys, they always get a cross. All these things make me feel good and safe. I can't wait to get back to them.”

While some items are new from

a store, other soldiers are carrying mementos that are steeped in

history.

&#8220I have a rosary from my grandfather who served in World War II,” said Spc. Joseph Bicchieri, a senior broadcast journalist with the 40th Public Affairs Detachment, in Kuwait. &#8220He got it from an Italian prisoner of war.”

While on his way to meet up with his unit, Bicchieri said, his grandfather was on a train. &#8220Someone asked, ‘does anyone speak Italian?'” he explained. Apparently, there was a whole trainload of POWs being transported and one of them needed a translator.

&#8220My grandfather grew up in the U.S., but his father came over from Italy on a boat, so he knew a little bit of the language,” he said.

In a gesture of good will for serving as translator, the POW gave his grandfather the rosary.

&#8220He wanted him to have it. He said he felt that it kept him safe,” Bicchieri said. &#8220So my grandfather carried it with him during his service in World War II. Years later, he gave it to me after learning I was leaving for the Middle East. He said it kept him safe, and now he wanted me to be kept safe.

&#8220I'm not the first person to go to war in my family,” Bicchieri said. &#8220But my grandfather got through it. And I know that I'm going to get through it, too. Having an item like this gives me a lot of comfort. And I know people back home are praying for me.”

Contact Sharon McBride at

352-2262.