MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Overseas deployments can take their toll on family left behind, but loved ones’ support, strong religious beliefs and e-mails will help one Camp Pendleton Marine and his loved ones through his sixth and final deployment.
“Knowing that he’s in Iraq and the possibilities of something happening to him scare me to death,” said Jeanette S. Urquidez, wife of Gunnery Sgt. Ruben Urquidez, the company gunnery sergeant of Company B, 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. “Faith in God and trusting that he will do whatever it takes to be able to see me and my daughter again puts my heart at ease,” Jeanette said.
Knowing that his wife and daughter are strong in faith and have coped with him being deployed before will help him endure being away, he said.
“This is my sixth overseas deployment, and knowing that it’s the last time I’ll have to leave my family helps me deal with the stress of war,” said the 36-year-old Urquidez, originally from Phoenix. “After this tour, I’m going to take that ‘Smokey Bear’ out of the closet and retire on the drill field.”
Drill instructors refer their to campaign covers as ‘Smokey Bears’ because the hat resembles what popular forest-fire awareness mascot Smokey the Bear wears.
The bullets and bombs, blood and sweat that service members deal with every day in combat can make a grisly impact on the way they live for seven months. Urquidez copes with combat knowing he will fill the void back home in just a few short months.
“I feel like there’s a huge empty space here while he’s gone, and seven months is a long time to be away from someone so important in your life,” said Natalie S. Guest, his stepdaughter. “The feeling of seeing him for the first time in so long is indescribable,” she said.
He agreed.
“Coming home to a family that loves you and appreciates so much what you do is an incredible feeling,” Urquidez said. “Being able to do those family things again, like going to the park or renting movies, is amazing, knowing that we are happy and together again.”
Many families take advantage of the fact that they see their loved ones every day, Guest said. Most households typically reunite at the end of each day. Military families dealing with a deployed relative, however, do not always have the comfort and assurance most families enjoy.
“I don’t think that people realize what we have to deal with every day, not knowing if (your family member) is safe or not,” Jeanette said. “It scares me to think about someone knocking on my door telling me something happened to him.”
Still, she knows her husband is proudly serving overseas so American families can have the benefits of freedom and safety.
“Knowing that he fights for the freedoms this country has enjoyed for so many years is an honor, even for me,” she said.