Courtesy Photo | CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq -- Sgt. Liam Vernon and his wife, Spc. Naomi Rodela, were reunited...... read more read more
1st Lt. Talon Anderson
BSTB, 1st BCT, 10th Mtn. Div.
CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq - How far would you go to be with the love of your life? What would you do to ensure the strength of your marriage? Would you volunteer to spend almost two consecutive years deployed in Iraq?
For Spc. Naomi Rodela, Company B, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, the decision to do just that was a resounding "yes" after finding out her husband was being deployed prior to her return home.
"As soon as my husband told me he would deploy, I told him, "I'm staying here,"" said Rodela, a Grand Rapids, Mich., native. "I knew more than anything that I'd do whatever it took to be with him."
Rodela and her husband, Sgt. Liam Vernon, Co. B, BSTB, 1st BCT, 10th Mtn. Div., met while serving together in the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. Vernon was a new private and his wife had recently returned from a tour in Iraq when they first met. Following in her parents" footsteps, who also met and married while they served in the military, Rodela married Vernon Sept. 17, 2004.
The newlyweds were together for only one month when Rodela had a permanent change of station to Fort Drum to deploy with the 42nd Infantry Division, a New York National Guard unit.
Being married in the Army "has been difficult," said Rodela. "The needs of the Army have not been in our favor."
Shortly after her departure in January, 2005, Vernon moved to Fort Drum, N.Y., and deployed with the BSTB in August.
"Our tours overlapped each other, and it would have been almost two years apart if I didn't get to stay," she said.
An intra-theater transfer was her only option to stay with her husband.
"One year was hard enough," she said. "I love my husband more than anything, so I would rather be in Iraq than without him."
Although the change required a lot of phone calls, paperwork and arm twisting, Rodela's new company believes it was worth the effort.
"Once Rodela came into our section, she brought a lot of experience by having been deployed a year already," said 1st Sgt. Samuel Morales, Company B, BSTB.
The couple works in separate sections to avoid complications. Vernon works in the BSTB intelligence office, while Rodela works as a common ground station operator at 1st BCT headquarters.
For Rodela, the deployment has been made easier by having her husband with her "
right from the moment they were reunited at Baghdad International Airport.
"I'll never forget how excited I was the night I landed in Baghdad," she said. "I was sitting on my duffel bag when he walked through the door " and for a few minutes, it didn't matter if we were in uniform or if anyone was looking. I knew as soon as I saw him that it didn't matter where I was as long as we were together."
The couple works through the fact that they sometimes work different shifts and can go two or three days without seeing each other. They try to do something together at least once a week, even if it is only sitting down for a cup of coffee at Green Beans or taking a tour of one of Saddam's palaces.
Despite the challenges, the couple is in it for the long haul. Rodela said Vernon has been accepted to the Green to Gold program and hopes to start school this fall. Her time in the Army will come to an end in August 2007, after which they plan to start their family. For now, they said they are content to grab a few minutes each day and be thankful for the rare opportunity to serve with a spouse in combat.
| Date Taken: | 05.22.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 05.22.2006 15:09 |
| Story ID: | 6472 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 271 |
| Downloads: | 23 |
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