Journal Staff Writer
NORTH KINGSTOWN
-- A month after returning from Sarajevo, Bosnia, Sgt. Maj. Michael Lewis, of the Rhode Island Army National Guard, was back on a plane yesterday morning, on his way to South West Asia.
Lewis and his fellow guardsmen of Company A, 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, left in a camouflage-colored C-130 from the Air National Guard Base at Quonset Point just after 9 a.m.
Like Lewis, some other members of the unit had also recently come home from the Balkans.
Lewis said that leaving for another overseas deployment is all part of the job -- one he has been performing for 12 years.
"We do what we need to do," he said. "It's definitely a good cause."
And -- as is the case with the majority of guardsmen -- serving his country isn't the only job Lewis has. When he's not deployed, Lewis works as a systems administrator for a Braintree, Mass., company.
More than two hours before their plane took off, the guardsmen, along with some family and friends, gathered in a hangar at the base.
The sergeant major, like many of his unit members, had already said his good-byes to his loved ones.
But as he watched the group of approximately 20 friends and family members who had come to see the unit off, Lewis said he was reminded of why he was being deployed:
"You look around and you see kids here and the last thing you want is for them to have to live through something like the attacks in New York."
The deployment of their unit on the six-month anniversary of Sept. 11 did not escape the notice of the Green Berets yesterday.
"It's in the back of people's minds," said Capt. Thomas Bouchard, the company's executive officer.
The guardsmen had piled up their backpacks just feet from where Bouchard spoke. A firefighter's helmet adorned with American flags and a cross sat on top of one of the backpacks.
Bouchard said the helmet belonged to one of the unit members -- a New York City firefighter who responded to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.
"He's taking his helmet with him," Bouchard said.
Another guardsman carried a prayer card for a fellow Green Beret who he said was one of the firefighters who died that day.
"This mission is for him," he said as he held up the prayer card.
Approximately 40 percent of the 80- to 100-member unit is from Rhode Island, Bouchard said. The rest of the unit is mostly from the Northeast, but some come from as far away as Oregon and Kansas. The unit is based in Middletown.
Bouchard said that the unit will be working with indigenous forces in South West Asia.
For security reasons, Bouchard could not provide any details about the missions, the exact size of the unit or the location of deployment.
He said that he did not know how long the deployment would last.
"People in this unit make huge sacrifices to serve their country," Bouchard said. "And it's not just them. Their families also make sacrifices."
Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty, who attended yesterday's sendoff, paid tribute to those families.
"We want to let the families know that we are here for them," Fogarty said. "Everybody needs to know that we care about what they do."
When it was time for the unit to get on a bus to take them out to their plane, the most immediate sacrifice made by the families was clear.
One father carried his young son in his arms, holding him until just moments before he got on the bus.
"I have to go, buddy," he said as he set his son down.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the building, another guardsman held his wife and son in a quiet embrace.
A few of the young boys were dressed in Army fatigues, just like their fathers. They were part of a chorus of young voices yelling: "Good-bye daddy," and "Good luck."
But the loudest voice was that of a young girl, whose cries could be heard above the roar of the bus's engine.
"I want daddy," she sobbed.
The adults were more silent in their good-byes.
As the bus pulled away, one woman waved to her loved one, and then used the same hand to brush back the tears streaming from her eyes.
Some drove their cars around to the other side of the building to watch the two C-130s take off: first, the plane carrying the unit members, and then a second plane carrying the unit's equipment.
As he watched the planes, Maj. Michael B. McNamara said that yesterday's was the fourth major deployment of a Rhode Island National Guard unit since Sept. 11.
McNamara said that typically only one major deployment takes place during a six-month time period.
"For the entire two years leading up to Sept. 11, the Rhode Island National Guard had four major deployments, all relating to Bosnia and Kosovo," he said.
A handful of family and friends stayed after takeoff and watched as the plane carrying their loved ones grew smaller and smaller in the distance. They did not leave until the plane had vanished into the icy blue horizon.
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