I will never forget my son leaving for Iraq in September of 2004. Like most mothers we do not want to see our kids go off to war. For some reason he thought it would be best for me and his dad to not tell us where he was....He did not want us to worry. Worry yea right I watched the news everyday, I cried most of the time when I heard of someone getting hurt, shot or killed.
Steven did get to call home every so often we talked about how he was getting use to the bombings, being shot at, even dealing with the dead. It was wonderful to hear his voice, it was not good to hear the fear in him when things were getting bad. But Steven was strong he was dealing with the change very well.
However when the phone rang in November and we were told our son was hit with a mortar....I was ill. I had not seen his father cry in a very long time, and when he got home and I had to tell him his son was hit with a mortar he just cried, he almost fell to the ground I remember him yelling "NO". I was crying so hard and did not have very much information to tell him, so we got on the phone and started making calls to the Army. We got good information and soon learned our son was doing well. He needed surgery as a large metal mortar went through his skull passed into his nasal passage and stopped in his eye socket. His hands legs and feet were filled with small metal.
They sent our son home to Texas where he had surgery, and started to heal. With a second surgery he is now doing fine, still picking metal out of his body, BUT HE IS ALIVE.
We have always loved our son, we are so very proud of this kid. He has been to hell and back and I thank GOD every day for him.....and we know with all our heart and soul the LORD watched over him and made sure he was sent home alive.
On June 6th 2005, The Army awarded Our Son with the Purple Heart.
Our Son, Our Hero, Our Life...
