Nov. 10, 2006
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D.C. reservist dreaming of home
By Leonard Sparks
AFRO Staff Writer
For one week leading up to Christmas, one Army reservist will abandon the sparse, dusty landscape of northern Iraq for the crowded, paved streets that characterize his hometown of Washington, D.C.
Cpl. Dannie Green, just over a month into a one-year deployment with the Franklin, Pa.-based 298th Transportation Co., is already dreaming of home-cooked meals and visiting family and friends when his leave officially begins Dec. 19. “I already called home and let them know that I’m coming, and I’m looking forward to seeing my family,” said Green, a supply specialist. “I’ve not had one day – when I fell and hurt my arm, I’ve had two days since then – that I’ve had off. Everything else has been seven days a week.”
After a few days “on lockdown,” Green said he plans to spend time with his wife – who plans to take the week off from work -- two adult daughters and two teenage sons, and other family members in the D.C. area.
“I wish I had a little bit more time. I would have probably went down to South Carolina to see my mother,” he said. “But I’ll probably just wait. This is probably about the only leave that I’ll get while I’m here.”
Already, Green said, he has crafted a wish list for homecoming breakfast: country bacon, country sausage, eggs with cheese, homemade biscuits and fried apples.
“Even though the food is good down here, there’s nothing like home – it’s just that home touch, and the different spices, herbs and everything that they use at home,” he said. “I miss that kind of thing: having the family around, we all sit there and get greasy.”
Green, who turns 51 on Thanksgiving Day, said he doesn’t expect to feel any sense of disconnection when he returns home, despite having returned just once since training for deployment began in June.
“I’ve been on tours before. I’ve been to Honduras, I’ve been to Germany. So it’s pretty much a routine for me,” he said. “I pretty much keep in contact with my people and they keep me up to date on what’s going on.”
And while Q-West is ringed by flatlands that disappear into the horizon, confinement to base leaves soldiers little room for breathing, making a trip home an important respite.
While the military offers a varied menu of activities at its bases in Iraq, “ain’t too much to do down here,” Green said.
They try to have some things. Like, they have Spades tournaments. They have salsa. I can pretty much watch TV in my CHU [containerized housing unit], so there’s no need to go down MWR [Morale, Welfare and Recreation Center] for that,” he said. “So I pretty much stay to myself.”