The threat of war with Iraq has hit a little too close to home for some students at Mississippi State University.
For one of those students the war has threatened to call away her husband to serve his country.
Debbie Golembiewski is married to Second Lieutenant Brent Golembiewski, a pilot for the United States Air Force who is stationed at the Columbus Air Force Base. Brent, 23, is faced with the possibility of deployment to Iraq sometime in the near future.
Debbie, a junior communication major, discussed Brent’s upcoming training on helicopters this May. Once his training is completed, Debbie said, it is very likely that Brent will go to Iraq in the event of a war.
“I don’t want him to go,” Debbie said, “but I’m proud to be married to a man who would give his life for his country. And I’ll be proud to have him as my husband as he goes.”
When asked about her feelings on a war that could take her husband across an ocean, Debbie replied that she felt the United States needed to put Iraq in its place. She added that if it is between us or them, she would rather it be them.
Debbie admits there is one thing that bothers her when she thinks about a war with Iraq–Velcro patches. Every pilot wears Velcro patches in case of being shot down behind enemy lines, she says. If this ever happens, the pilot rips off the patches so not to give any information to the enemy. “I don’t like thinking about that Velcro. It bothers me,” she said.
Despite these fears, Debbie supports her husband and the troops that are being called to duty. And while her husband begins helicopter training in a few months, many other troops face the possibility of leaving the American shore by the end of the month. Many are already gone.
Lieutenant Colonel Mark A. McManigal, professor of military science and head of ROTC, said he is unsure of a definite number of students called to duty at this point but said “our mission continues to develop future leaders of tomorrow.”
McManigal said that he and others are continuing in routine by developing ROTC students as future leaders by coaching, teaching and mentoring them.
“Army ROTC is all about leadership at Mississippi State,” McManigal said.
Lieutenant Colonel Tim Powell from the Army National Guard in Jackson, Miss., reported that soldiers from the surrounding areas of Starkville have already been deployed. The 223rd Engineer Battalion, headquartered in West Point with stations in Aberdeen, Calhoun City, Charleston, Webb and Clarksdale, has shipped out 650 troops.
Powell stated that 1,300 troops of the Army National Guard have been deployed from the state of Mississippi.
Tech Sergeant Jim Moser from the Columbus Air Force Base acknowledged that 50 soldiers have been deployed from that area in support of the circumstances in Southwest Asia.
While the numbers of deployed soldiers from the state of Mississippi have grown, they have represented just a fraction of the large masses of troops being readied for war. The Los Angeles Times recently announced an additional 35,000 troops composed mainly of Army and Marine soldiers will be deployed overseas this month. Over 65,000 troops have been ordered to leave in support of the crisis in Iraq since Christmas.
An estimated 250,000 American soldiers may be called to defend their country during the course of this upcoming war. That number is almost 10 percent of the entire population of Mississippi. It is almost 16 times greater than the population of MSU.
At the end of her interview, Debbie wanted to let people understand the obstacles facing these soldiers. “A lot of people don’t appreciate the jobs these men (and women) are doing. “They’re not superhumans. They’re soldiers, they’re college kids and they’re scared like everyone else.”
A son embraces his father just before his father leaves to defend the country with the 113th military detachment.
