A different kind of Christmas

Brandon Twp.- John Garner, Jr. would like to forget last Christmas. And the past two Thanksgivings. And Memorial Day, too.
Actually, he’d just as soon forget the last 14 months he has spent in Iraq as an Army Specialist with the 3rd Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division from Ft. Hood, Texas. Garner was set to arrive in the township Dec. 13, just in time to celebrate Christmas with the family he has missed since October 2006, when he was deployed.
‘I’m just 22, but there are days I feel like I’m 40,? said Garner by phone from Texas this week.
‘It’s gonna be a different lifestyle, being over there for 15 months and now being home. I missed my family and friends, but I really missed the overall lifestyle of making my own decisions and being free to do what I want to do. I missed the whole American lifestyle and what I was fighting for.?
Garner is a 2003 graduate of Oakland Christian High School who grew up in the township and whose parents, mom Jeri and dad, John Garner, Sr., still live here. He has one sister, Amy.
‘It’s exciting to know he’s back in the States in one piece,? said Garner, Sr. of his son, who arrived in Texas Nov. 26 and has been there since being debriefed and receiving integration training. ‘We’re extremely excited to see him and get him back. We’ve missed two birthdays and two Thanksgivings and a Christmas, but now we get him home. It’s been a little anxious at times.?
The anxiety was warranted. Garner, Jr., stationed in the northeastern Iraq province of Muqdadiyah,about 50 miles northeast of Baghdad, was a forward observer for artillery. His job was to observe for artillery and air strikes. He and his comrades would set up observation points and watch for insurgents to move in. There was no break on the holidays for the American soldiers, either.
‘When the holidays came around, it reminded me of a Toby Keith song where you work straight through the holidays,? says Garner. ‘We worked hard.? He and his unit were involved in two separate firefights on Thanksgiving last year and three firefights on Christmas.
‘They know what our holidays are and they wait and think we’re going to relax and they hit us hard,? says Garner. Garner was hit twice by fire from AK-47s last Thanksgiving’once in the left bicep and another in his vest, which took a silver dollar-size chunk out of his side. He also suffered concussions.
‘It didn’t stop me then, I had an adrenaline rush,? recalls Garner. ‘Mom always told me I’m hard-headed.?
But the worst day was still to come. On Memorial Day, six soldiers in his unit died when an incendiary explosive device went off under the Bradley tank they were in. ‘It’s one of those days? every guy that was there, we still think about it,? said Garner, who notes that besides losing those six, another three from his unit died in Iraq, including a sergeant the first month they were there.
‘It’s hard for a lot of us to get some sleep these days. We’re trying to make do. A lot of us came back and we don’t expect big parades or credit. We did our jobs. We want to forget about it, but we know we never will.?
Garner is looking forward to being home, seeing family and snow and going snowboarding. He will travel to Ohio and see his grandparents, too. ‘You miss everything when you’re gone,? he said. ‘Time for us stands still over there.? Garner laughs when he says he wants to thank his parents for putting up with him for 22 years.
He is returning from Iraq different than when he left.
‘If you’re related to (a soldier), you have to remember you can never give up on them after the changes you see in them when they come back from deployment,? says Garner, who is on leave until mid-January and may be redeployed in a year. ‘People don’t expect change, but if you went through what we went through and saw what we did, you would be changed, too.? Garner feels a bond with the men who have served alongside him and all the ones still there, and he has a message for them, too. ‘Tell them to have a good Christmas,? he says. ‘The guys here are thinking about them and praying for them and hopefully we’ll see them home soon.?

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