Pastor catching up with family

I'm writing to let you know that I made it home on June 24. Youngstown never looked as good as it did that day.
We left Camp Ramadi by helicopter June 10 and flew to the main air base in our area of operations. We then flew by a C-130 plane to Kuwait the next day. We spent a week in Kuwait "decompressing," and then flew to Camp Shelby, Miss., to D-MOB. The D-MOB (demobilization) included a final medical screening and a number of administrative tasks which were necessary before we could receive our separation orders.
Things were a little stacked up at Shelby, so the process took longer than expected. We left Camp Shelby and flew from Gulfport, Miss., to Pittsburgh on June 24. Then we were bused to our armory in Washington, Pa., where we were able to reunite with our families.
When I was in Ramadi, I told people I was looking forward to enjoying the little things about being home. I had no designs on making grand travel plans or extravagant nights out on the town. I was simply looking forward to sitting on the porch at my house and petting our cat, or walking on the kitchen linoleum in my bare feet, or smelling the fragrance of freshly cut green grass again.
So, that's what I've been doing these past couple of weeks, along with catching up with my family, and that has been enough.
My son, Ethan, began cutting the grass while I was gone and has continued to do it after my return, so now I can enjoy the smell of freshly cut grass without having to be the one to cut it!
My daughter, Emily, doesn't cut grass, but she will be learning to drive soon, and I will be teaching her. I don't think that quite fits into the category of a "little thing" as far as she's concerned, however.
Deadly final week
Our final week in Ramadi proved to be a deadly one, as we lost five soldiers to mortar attacks, improvised explosive devices and small arms fire. One of the mortars hit about a 100 yards from the chapel, killing two soldiers. Our replacements were in place by that time and were probably wondering what kind of ordeal they were going to be up against for the rest of their deployment.
Every new increment of soldiers and Marines sets high expectations for achievement as they begin a deployment, but the events of the first few weeks have been sobering for them, I'm sure. I wish we could have left the region feeling the situation was more stabilized, but that simply isn't the case.
Being able to accomplish our mission and then safely returning home was the overriding goal for all the participants of the 2/28 Brigade Combat Team. Yet, 81 of our soldiers and Marines didn't make it back. While I am grateful to be one of the ones to return and reunite with my family, I cannot help but feel great sadness for the families of those who did not.
These families were not able to join the crowds at the armory parking lot who waved their flags and hoisted their "welcome home" banners and see their loved ones step off the bus and back into their lives. Their loss will continue to be felt for a long time to come as the rest of us get back to resuming civilian life.
This resumption of civilian life for me will include returning to Brownlee Woods Presbyterian Church as pastor, which is to say I will now exchange the combat uniform for a pulpit robe Sunday mornings. The Brownlee Woods congregation was extremely supportive to me and my family during this deployment, and I am very grateful to them for that.
Substitute did well
The Rev. Dick Braun, former pastor of the John Knox Presbyterian Church in Youngstown, stepped in on relatively short notice to serve as interim pastor, and he committed himself 100 percent to the task.
My sincere thanks goes out to him for the ministry he rendered to the Brownlee Woods Church in my absence and for the many positive things they were able to accomplish while he was there. My first Sunday back will be for the 10 a.m. July 23 service. I look forward to this "starting over" period to begin.
This sense of starting over, of course, echoes the sentiment of all the returning soldiers of our Brigade Combat Team. For many, making the transition to civilian life may take some time, so I'm hoping that people will be patient with them as they make the adjustment.
These men and women made tremendous sacrifices, leaving behind family and friends and jobs, and stepped up to serve as they were asked to do in an extremely dangerous and difficult area in Iraq.
And while it is good to know we have the chance to make a new beginning now that this deployment is over, it must be acknowledged that we have missed out on a great deal for the past year and a half with our families. This is time we will never get back. I am seeing just how difficult a realization this is.
The Rev. Peter Lawson, pastor of Brownlee Woods Presbyterian Church in Boardman, served as the brigade chaplain to the 2/28 Brigade Combat Team at Camp Ramadi in Iraq.