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Bluffton, Ind.

Bluffton dad returning soon to Iraq; Son my follow
Saturday, July 2, 2005

By Sarah Pulliam
“Like father like son” recently took a new twist for Bill and Paul.
Bill will return to Iraq with the Army Reserves next week and his son Paul could go to Iraq with the Army as early as September.
“Do I like that my son might be in Iraq shortly? No, I don’t like that,” Bill said. “Somebody’s son or daughter has to be there.”
Bill is husband to Ramona and father to Paul, 21, Stephanie, 19, and Meredith, 13. Bill preferred omission of their last name for safety concerns.
“I think having him leave is going to be the hard part,” Ramona said. “I try not to think about it and enjoy every minute he’s here.”
Bill is home in Bluffton for 10 days on leave from Iraq where he has been stationed since January. He returned to the military after 9/11. Bill will leave July 9 to continue serving with the 983rd Battalion in western Al Taqaddum, Iraq for up to six months.
“I’m over there because I believe in what America is doing,” Bill said. “I’m doing this for my kids and their kids.”
Paul enlisted in the Army in January, began boot camp in Georgia in March and will finish basic training mid-July. His family is unsure whether he will be able go home before his first assignment.
Paul’s grandfather served in the Navy during the Korean War, making Paul the third continuous generation of military service. On the family’s kitchen wall, pictures are displayed of an ancestor who served in the National Guard after the Civil War.
Bill served in the Air Force for 10 years until 1987 working with intercontinental ballistic missiles. He worked in Kansas and Montana but ended his time in the military because of an injury from a car accident.
9/11 made Bill consider serving in the military again and he enlisted in the Army Reserves in November 2003.
“It really pushed me over the edge,” Bill said. “My country was at war and I just wanted to be a part of serving my country.”

Serving in Iraq
Bill found out he would go to Iraq last summer and left for training in October.
“In the back of my mind I knew it would happen,” he said. “The hardest part was leaving my family.”
Bill has various duties as an engineer including bulldozing buildings and leveling dirt. His battalion is repairing bases before the United States turns them back over to Iraq.
“It’s very fulfilling,” he said. “The progress that we’ve made is tremendous.”
Bill’s battalion built barriers for two weeks in February in Samarra, Iraq, and he said it was probably the most dangerous city because the Reserves were most exposed in the downtown area.
While traveling from base to base with approximately 25 convoys Bill suffered some of his hardest times in Iraq.
“I think those were more stressful times,” Ramona said. “I just heard it from him on the phone. There was more strain in his voice.”
When Bill’s battalion would travel during the convoys, he would control a .50-caliber gun, a weapon used to shoot down vehicles that may contain bombs and crash into his vehicle.
He raised his eyebrows and said, “It’s a big gun,” and chuckled before turning serious. “You just got to be ready for anything they throw at you.”
The exposure of the convoys made Bill nervous.
“That’s where a lot of casualties come from,” he said.
Bill said the closest bomb dropped under 400 feet away from him.
“You don’t really think about being scared,” he said. “It happens and you go ‘holy cow.’ ”
While Bill has seen difficult parts of serving in Iraq, he was careful to clarify he wasn’t always fighting.
“I don’t want to paint this picture that I’m constantly being hit,” he said. “I’m not getting the combat action and I don’t want to seem like a warrior who’s in constant battle.”
Bill said one of the most satisfying parts of being in Iraq was the children he met and he recalled the memory of a girl in Samarra.
“This little girl made him think of his own children...” Ramona said. “Hoping for her future to be better.” Bill added. “Hopefully they’ll remember the kindness we showed them.”
As he scrolled through more than 1,400 pictures on his computer, he described Iraq as being “a beach with no water,” and laughed. “It’s very desolate and arid.”
It rained when he first arrived in Iraq, but Bill said he doesn’t remember rain since March.
The temperature reached a high of 124 degrees since he’s been in Iraq. In contrast, when the sun went down it became very cold at night, though he recalled the view.
“It is just absolutely gorgeous at night,” he said. “The skies are beautiful; you just see shooting stars.”

Christianity
Bill converted to Christianity in 1983 and his faith is an evident part of his family. Although somewhat reserved and shy, Bill opened up when asked how his Christian faith impacts his military service.
“I’m able to share about Jesus Christ to the guys I’m with. Anything that happens, I know that Christ is there,” Bill said. “He gives me a peace that’s hard to describe.”
Ramona said she tries not to think her husband might be in combat while he’s in Iraq.
“It’s hard knowing he’s there, but I believe in what he’s doing and I know where his heart is,” she said.

Background
Bill, 46, grew up on a dairy farm in northeastern Ohio. He met Kansas native Ramona on a blind date during his time in the Air force.
“We met and clicked and I guess the rest is history,” Bill said.
Bill’s casual, brownish orange T-shirt and jeans hinted his introverted, shy tendency while Ramona's bright green polo revealed her outgoing, sociable personality. The opposites married in 1982 while he was still in the Air Force.
During his time in the Air Force, Bill attended night school and received his Bachelor of Science degree in computer information systems from Kansas Newman University. He later received his master’s in industrial technology from Bowling Green State University (Ohio).
Bill moved around the country with his family during his time in the Air Force and later for job transfers.
His family landed in Bluffton in 2000 for his job as an engineer at TI Automotive in Ossian.
Ramona works as a nurse practitioner in Fort Wayne. Stephanie recently completed her first year at Indiana Purdue University at Fort Wayne and Meredith finished seventh grade at Norwell Middle School.
“We hope to be here many years,” Bill said.
Bill’s enlistment ends in November but he does not know what the future holds.
“It’s not easy,” Bill said. “I’m missing a lot of stuff with my kids.”

Family
Ramona said the battalion has an invitational Web site where wives and girlfriends can post pictures or inspirational messages to each other.
“We’re all kind of adjusting to the fact that they’re gone,” she said. “We try to be very encouraging to each other.”
Bill tries to call Ramona as often as he can, sometimes up to a half-hour every day.
“There have been times when I expect him to call and that’s kind of stressful,” Ramona said.
The phones and e-mail are shut down whenever there is a casualty in Bill’s battalion so they can notify the closest relative.
“That’s when she gets nervous,” Bill said.
Meredith said she misses riding her dad’s motorcycle with him and having him tuck her in at night. Although she has her mother’s blonde hair, Meredith seems shy like her father.
She said having her dad away can be tough sometimes but her friends have been supportive.
“They’re just there for me and I know I can talk to them,” Meredith said. Her mom laughed and said, “They keep her busy.”

Support
Bill and Ramona said the support from the community has been important.
“When it comes up that my husband serves in Iraq, they say to be sure to thank him,” Ramona said.
Bill said when a stranger at a restaurant found out he served in Iraq, he picked up the tab for the family.
“They may not agree with the government but they’re supportive,” Bill said. “When you’re 6,000 miles away from home, it’s nice to know people are appreciative.”
The family’s church, Hope Missionary Church, has been an important part of their family.
Ramona said friends and neighbors have helped with yard work and transportation.
“The help has been pretty incredible,” she said. “It’s not great having him gone, but the support has made the time easier for me.”
Bill is spending his 10 days at home with his family, golfing, canoeing and seeing close friends. He said the fourth of July will mean a little more to him this year.
“As having been in harm’s way, it gives me a little more appreciation for the freedom we do have,” he said. “Seeing one of our guys hurt and one then killed, you realize how much freedom costs.”