RURAL MISSOURI10

by Katherine Heine

Staff Sgt. Danny Brown lovesfootball. He loves the gamealmost as much as his country,but not quite. Still, when he

was deployed months before the startof his only son’s senior year footballseason, he was crushed.

He braced himself to miss theblocks and tackles of the son hecoached for six years in the MightyMite football league. He accepted hewould not hear the plays called outby the same man who announcedDanny’s own games and those of hisolder brother years before.

Uncle Sam called, and he went,along with the rest of the 1138thMilitary Police Company stationed inthe southern-Missouri town of WestPlains, population 10,866.

Customs duty in Kuwait wastedious, and the 130-degree heat wascrippling, but Danny was able to hearall but two of his son’s games over aWeb site created by local businesses.

“After the Kickapoo game theycalled me out of the locker room and Italked to my dad. Of course he could-n’t talk back, but I knew he was listen-ing,” Danny’s son, Devin, says. “Allthe businesses and everyone worked sohard to make that happen, I willnever forget it.”

Don’t let the size of this townfool you — it has chutzpah. Thetight-knit community, where residents’ patriotism is as sincereas their hospitality, has collec-tively battled the hardships ofheavy deployments and providedendless support for the families and soldiers of the most frequently deployed MissouriNational Guard unit in the state.

“After 9-11 happened they gotcalled up Oct. 1 and there was anarticle about a shortage of flagsnationwide,” Diana, Danny’s wife,says. “I made a comment that the rea-son there was a shortage was becausethey are all in West Plains. Everyhome had a flag, kids had flags.Businesses were buying flags and giv-ing them out in the streets.”

While most Guard units aredeployed about once every five years,the 1138th has been gone almost twoout of the past three years, Sgt. 1stClass Dan Rivet says. The companyspent one year guarding Fort LeonardWood and nine months on duty inKuwait, Qatar and parts of Iraq.Military police companies like the1138th are often deployed withgreater frequency because of their ver-sitale training.

Danny never expected to be in theGuard. The father of two tried to jointhe Army two years after high schoolin 1980, but was turned away becauseof his flat feet. Looking back, Dannysays he is glad his feet tripped himup. He has been a member of theGuard for 24 years and has beendeployed with the 1138th four times.

His first deployment, duringDesert Storm in 1990, was bitter-sweet. His excitement to serve wasovershadowed by the death of hisolder brother, Special Forces Capt.Allan Brown, in a helicopter crashduring training at Fort Bragg, N.C.,seven months earlier.

Danny, who has lived in West

Plains most of his life, is still amazedby the outpouring of communitysupport, which seems to grow withevery deployment, he says.

When the company was away onduty, many West Plains businessesprovided gestures of support to aidsoldiers’ spouses, who were fightingtheir own battles with teenagers,finances and home repairs. Plumberscharged only for parts, neighborsbabysat for free and some restaurantsprovided free meals.

In addition to providing free din-ners for soldiers’ families and ship-ping care packages and cookiesabroad, Ryan’s Family Steakhousejoined forces with Hilburn photogra-phy to offer portrait packages to the-families at a reduced cost. Many ofthe pictures taken of the 1138th linea back wall of the restaurant.

“I have watched these kids gothrough proms and graduate fromhigh school without one of their par-ents,” Rick Austin, manager ofRyan’s, says. “I just cannot put it intowords how I feel about these families.It is like helping out your familymore than anything else. ”

To the school children of WestPlains, members of the 1138th aremajor celebrities. When the mail

came every three to sixweeks overseas, soldierswould divvy up lettersfrom local school chil-dren, sometimes answer-ing 12 letters each. Aconstruction-paper flagwith red cutout handshangs in the armoryabove a glass case filledwith souvenirs of war,including Iraqi dog tagsand a copy of the Koran.

Everyone is glad to behome, but soldiers of the1138th are honest aboutthe strain re-adjusting tocivilian life puts on relationships and theresentments that often surface aftermissing a child’s birthday, weddinganniversaries and class reunions.

“It’s been tough. We as individualshave changed. Our wives and kidshave changed,” Danny says. “I havebeen back since December and thereis still a lot of re-adjusting going on.”

This past deployment has beenespecially hard on Danny, who losthis job months after he returned fromthe Middle East because his employer,Aerospace, Inc., closed its West Plainsbranch office.

By law the re-employment rights ofsoldiers are protected, but nothingcan be done for the self-employed orGuard members, like Brown, wholoose their jobs because of company

closings. Life in the Guard is tough on fami-

lies too. Wives are often torn betweensupporting their husband’s passion toserve the country and desiring a stablelife without the threat of deployments.

Danny and Diana have been mar-ried for 22 years. They finish eachother’s sentences and poke fun at eachother’s quirks. Diana promised herselfshe would never make Danny choosebetween the two loves in his life, buther strength was tested when Dannywas called up after his brother died.

“At first I was like, well who askedme?” Diana says. “I would never dothat to him though. I just put it inGod’s hands and pray for him tocome home, and if he doesn’t I know

I will see him again someday.” She does have one rule though.

Danny takes his stripes off at the door. “I have my moments,” he admits,

laughing. “I am not allowed to giveorders at home.”

The Brown’s work hard on theirmarriage, but have seen some dissolveunder the pressure of war, especiallydue to a lack of communication.

Knowing the pressure military serv-ice puts on families and wanting toeliminate the financial burden ofcalling home, the VFW Post 1828and Ladies Auxiliary donated anunlimited supply of pre-paid phonecards.

“It didn’t cost a dime for any ofour soldiers to call home for theentire year we were gone. When thecards ran out, they just sent more,”Rivet says. “I have got over 20 yearsin my career, and never have I seen acommunity like this one do whatthey do for their military.”

On the home front, the FamilyReadiness Group, a support group forsoldiers’ families, met every otherweek to get their minds off war andlet the knots in their stomachs loosen.

“More than anything we just need-ed someone to talk to who knewwhat we were going through,” Dianasays. “But sometimes we would justgo out to dinner or the park and nottalk about it at all.”

They did, however, talk about andplan the soldiers return in December.It was a hero’s welcome.

“They sent two Medevac helicop-ters to meet us out on the highway.Then we were met by state patrol andcounty sheriff’s department,” Rivetsays. “There were fire trucks escortingus all over town and through thesquare. People were lining the streetswaving flags. It was unreal.”

In the town of West Plains, theeffects of war have reached far beyondthe families of deployed soldiers. Thecommunity decided long ago that theburden was theirs to shoulder.

Homeland proud,Hometown strongHow one Missouri town supports its troops and pro-vides comfort to families battling on the home front

Diana Brown tied a yellow ribbon to the mailbox in support of her husband, Danny, amember of the 1138th Military Police Co., when he was deployed to Kuwait in 2003.

Thelbert Franks accepts a statue on behalf of the VFWPost 1828 and Ladies Auxiliary’s support of the1138th. Awards were given to soldiers’ families andsupportive businesses at a Freedom Salute Ceremony.