Pocono News Section

Final Farewells for Soldiers in W-B

Final Farewells for Soldiers in W-B - Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 5:39PM EST

Reported by: Dave Skutnik
Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008 @ 05:39pm EST
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY- Nearly 200 soldiers from the 320th Military Police Battalion are headed to Iraq. At a ceremony Tuesday they said their goodbyes to family and friends they won't see again for a year.

Felicia Walsh of Sweet Valley said, "Just the length of time I'm going to be gone from my family, it's hard. 400 days is a long time but I'm really excited about it."

For many of the soldier's it's their first time overseas, and they say the holidays will be the hardest. Jillian Baun from Scranton said, "Yes, this will be my first Christmas away from home. It’ll be hard."

All the soldiers agree no matter what time of year, leaving your family behind is never easy.
Kirk Lehman from Bloomsburg said, "The worst part of it is just being away from home, not seeing your family, the things you're so used to in life."

Nelson Colon of Swoyersville has two kids, a 10-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter. He’ll be going from proud papa to prison guard. He'll be working in a jail that even houses members of Al Quada. "It's my job - gotta do what I gotta do - and come back to my family," he said.

Eric and Marina Bernazini's family will grow by one while Eric is overseas. “We're going to be expecting while he's deployed so I'll miss having him there for that,” said Marina.

Eric said, “I think it’s going to be pretty hard but we’ll get through it.”

It’s a hardship that many families in Pennsylvania are all too familiar with. These soldiers leave for Fort Dix Wednesday morning before heading to Iraq in September.