Maureen Lemnah Houstin is the daughter of Ralph & Claire Lemnah of Fairfax - The following article appeared in the Weekend Edition of The St. Albans Messenger Dated Saturday, October 17, 2009 - There is a link to the article written iJanuary 13, 2004 by Lee Kahrs at the bottom of this article. There was a photo of Maureen, but I was unable to get a good scan of it. Will ask Lisa if she can send me a photo to put with the article. I might add that there was a tremendous job done by Claire & Ralph taking care of the youngsters during Maureen's First Tour.
Mom goes to war, again Son to join her on 2nd tour
By LISA M. BOUCHER
Messenger Correspondent
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/photos/albums/forum_photos/SFC_Maureen_Houston_09.jpg)
ST ALBANS—It's been six years since Sgt. First Class Maureen Houston returned from her first tour-of-duty in Afghanistan.
The memories of reuniting with her three children, and the painful re-acclimation process still stirs raw emotion in this otherwise upbeat soldier.
The fact that her son will be joining her in the war adds another difficult dimension.
At the end of this month, 42-year-old Houston will leave for training in Louisiana, before being deployed to Afghanistan.
This may not be something civilians easily understand: She was deployed the first time in 2003 and "loved it;" and is even looking forward to going back.
Houston said, "Be sure to tell people that the media only tells you what they want you to know. There are a lot of good things going on over there, a lot of good things."
What is evident is that soldiers take personal satisfaction in seeing the positive outcomes of their efforts and the impact it has on others.
Houston has been a member of the Vermont National Guard for 10 years, seven of those in active duty. Having enlisted in the army from high school, she left for basic training the morning after graduation.
Being away from Ashley, Brion (bree-awn), and Caleb, who were 15,12, and 10 in 2003 wasn't this single mother's biggest struggle. Returning from her previous six-month deployment and re-entering their lives was.
Said Houston, "I knew they were being taken care of (by Houston's mother) and I knew there was a lot of support here. It was the coming home.... I got back, I didn't know what my role was. Do I step back in automatically as the disciplinarian, as the parent? Do I ease in?"
She recalls, "When I first came back, just hearing the National Anthem, I would throw my head down and bawl....
"When I was sitting at my computer having anxiety attacks, because I didn't have my weapon and I felt something was missing ... I started feeling like a bad mother, like I can go off to war, but I can't take care of my kids. You beat yourself up. I think more so as a mother and as a female."
Later she learned to "get out and do something physical" and important lessons that will make things different this time.
Her children never told her at the time how they felt about her absence, now they have discussed things never before mentioned.
The youngest, Caleb is 17 now, a senior in high school, who will be going back to stay with his grandmother again until he graduates. He will then join the Vermont National Guard, like his mother and older brother, Brion, 18.
Home away from home
Brion will be with his mother in Afghanistan this time around and as a soldier this does not worry Houston. She knows he has had the same training she has had, which she feels has been excellent. However, she admits to feeling a little differently as a mother, as her son she wants to protect him.
Brion echoes the same sentiments regarding his mother. As a fellow soldier he feels confident in her training and abilities, but as her son he has more cause to worry. However, he thinks that being in the same general vicinity as his mother will be like "home away from home."
He will leave ahead of his mother and initially was excited to be going, but as the date of departure draws closer, he's a little more nervous.
"I have to qualify with a pistol tomorrow," said the teen. "I hope I don't ever have to use it, because it means I'm way too close."
Afghanistan, Houston points out, is not a place for divas. "Think of M-A-S-H without the hospital," she said referring to the 1970s sitcom on the Korean War. "That's what it's like, camping out in a bunch of tents."
Still, every soldier wants some semblance of normalcy. She remembers not having enough hair coloring and having to purchase a kit that was extremely outdated. She will lay in a large enough supply ahead of this departure.
"I've always looked at it as an adventure," she said. "You never know what's going to happen, every day is different. It's not like a routine you have when you're home."
For the past six to eight months she has been preparing for deployment, which includes longer training sessions, getting personal affairs in order, and gathering the necessary supplies to take along. She ticks off list of disposable items.
"The sand is like baby powder it has been so pulverized," Houston said. "In some areas it's really soft and you sink right into it and in others it's very hard."
The second tour
There are several major changes between Houston's first tour-of-duty and this one, other than her children being grown, she has a new job as a Sexual Assault Response coordinator for Joint Force Headquarters a newly created position that Houston stepped into last April in preparation for her deployment.
She also has a two-year-old grandson now who is the light of her life. Unlike 2003, she will be able to keep in contact and see him and the rest of her family via a voice over Internet protocol service provider.
"Last time they had one day at camp Johnson where the families could come and talk on a video screen for five minutes," said Houston. "We spent four and a half crying and the last 30 (seconds) saying goodbyes."
Houston recounts the story of her adventurous delayed return last time, due to inclement weather and eventually arriving at Camp Johnson after a long drive up from Boston. "It's been six years and I still get emotional over that reunion," she says.
Houston said re-acclimating to civilian life last time took her about six months. She felt bored by the routine of life back at home.
"I had to be doing something all the time, had to keep moving," she said. "I needed to. I was always driving 60 miles per hour everywhere I went—try doing that on Lake Street. I would get so frustrated behind people going too slow and the road rage would start."
Even though she is going to be gone twice as long this time, Houston feels confident that returning won't be as difficult because of what she has learned in the past and all her children will be members of the military by the time she returns.
Daughter Ashley is joining the guard also.
"I will be getting home in time to see Caleb graduate from his advanced training," she said.
Houston is proud of her children and happy that all of them will be service members —another bond for this already close family.
The bonus for Houston is a built-in support group that will intimately understand her needs post deployment and be able to communicate in the mysterious acronym-laced language of the military.
Below is a link to the article written by Lee Kahrs that appeared in the January 13, 2004 Edition of The St. Albans Messenger:
http://www.vtgrandpa.com/newsclips/houston.html (http://www.vtgrandpa.com/newsclips/houston.html)