Photo By Lt. Col. Michelle Lunato | Staff Sgt. Louis Trujillo, operations noncommissioned officer, A Company, 392nd...... read more read more
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Deployment can be a difficult time for families of Soldiers. Though the separation may never get easier, they typically adapt to the situation over time. Yet after five months of being in Afghanistan, Army Staff Sgt. Louis Trujillo’s mother is still not accustomed to his deployment. It is not for lack of trying, however, it is because he didn’t tell her he was here.
“She thinks I am in Germany, and she is happy with that,” said Trujillo, operations NCO, A Company, 392nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion.
She was so proud when I joined the military and told me, ‘I knew you would be a Soldier. That is what you were born to be,’ said Trujillo. But when the war started in 2003, her motherly instincts took over, and she told me I could move to Mexico with our family, said Trujillo. So, the motivation for his white lie was love, he said. “She’s a mom. She is going to worry, and I don’t want her to.”
Worry is not in the vocabulary for Trujillo’s three sons who are in on the secret, said Trujillo. “They still think war is fun, which is my fault because I tell them, ‘I am an American Soldier. Nothing can happen to me.'” The 11, 9 and 6-year-old boys have been exposed to the military for years, and have become little patriots, said Trujillo. My youngest asks if I have killed all the bad guys, because he wants to grab any gun and to come help me, said Trujillo. “He thinks I went to war by myself.”
The innocence and admiration from the boys is a tremendous support, said Trujillo. “It’s so nice to be someone’s hero.” So far, the heroic war actions of dad and the safe world of son have not collided. It may be a different story when grandma comes to visit the boys, especially since they know she doesn’t know I am here, but I could not ask them to lie, said Trujillo. “So far, everything is working according to plan.”
If this precarious plan fails, I will just have to suffer the consequences, and my boys understand that, said Trujillo. “I have been teaching my boys to take responsibility for their actions, and stick to their decisions.” Accountability is just one of the many military qualities Trujillo has been trying to pass onto his boys. “A lot of the Army concepts work in civilian life.”
In addition to passing along military qualities, Trujillo has passed on his love for history to his sons. I make them watch the military and history channels, he said. Knowing history was a passion to Trujillo and one of the reasons he enlisted. “I joined the Army because I liked history. I decided not to just read about history, but to become a part of it.” And as the boys get older, they are learning more and more, Trujillo said. “I try to use every situation to teach my kids a lesson.”
Nevertheless, the instruction on character, respect and team work with the boys does have a down side, said Trujillo with a laugh. “The worst thing is that they are learning and working against me,” he said as he explained how he heard the all the boys trying to cover up an accident one of them made. “I heard them plotting, but they were working as a team, so I didn’t bust them.”
Uncovering the scheme would have only gone against the ‘succeed as a team or fail as a team’ message I have drilled into them, said Trujillo. “Even if they are working against me, I let them win because they are working as a team.”
Trujillo said he has seen this development of solidarity not only in his boys, but in the general public as well. As an Army Reservist in the state of Washington, Trujillo normally witnessed and experienced insults and protests to his 18 years of military service rather than gratitude. But when sent to Texas on a training mission, he was surprised by the military support from the public. Trujillo said he fondly remembers being approached by a lady with three boys like his own. “They all came up to me to say thank you for service. That was an eye opener. I never experienced that in Washington.”
But as time has passed and more and more Americans are supporting the military, Trujillo has seen a welcome change in his home state. “I have always been proud to be a Soldier, but now, I am proud to be an American.”
The sense of pride does not just come from Trujillo himself, but from his leadership as well. “He is the utmost professional, and he fell right in with us immediately, like he had been right along with us the whole time,” said the A Company sergeant major, Army Sgt. Maj. John Miles, when he explained how Trujillo arrived into Afghanistan a few months after the rest of the company.
Trujillo is a Soldier any leader would love to have, said Army 1st Lt. Roberto Rodriquez, A Company executive officer. “That guy will go the extra mile without even being asked.”
Military training and discipline are the reasons for Trujillo’s work ethic, he said. “The Army forces me to be the person I need to be.”
| Date Taken: | 07.09.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 07.09.2010 04:18 |
| Story ID: | 52574 |
| Location: | KANDAHAR, AF |
| Web Views: | 267 |
| Downloads: | 153 |
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