Destination

For those of you that don't know Shawn is Doug's son. He is in the army stationed at Fort Polk in Louisiana and has been deployed to Iraq

Shawn and Jennie got married September 2, 2006 Jennie has 2 young children Burgandie and Ashton.

On March 19th before Shawn had to leave for Iraq Jennie had a sonogram so Shawn would know that they are expecting a baby girl "Ashlyn" in April.

Shawn made it safely to Kuwait and told Jennie that he's doing okay. They are supposed to remain in Kuwait for a week or two for additional training.

Monday March 26, 2007 He said that is has been raining where he is for the past three days and that it's pretty miserable. He will be going out to the field for a couple of days. Jennie already has an entire counter full of letters and little gifts from Burgandie, Ashton, and me to send to him, as well as a freezer that's half full of stuff She's cooked for him, that's waiting to be sent out.

Tuesday March 27, 2007 Capt. Mark O'Brien (Shawn's captain) said that they've been in Kuwait for roughly 4 days and all of the soldiers are already doing a great job. He said he'll send out another e-mail when they reach Iraq. He can't say when or how they're getting to Iraq to help assure everyone's safety. And then he says, I would advise all of you to prepare yourself for your loved ones being gone at least 365 days. To plan for any shorter amount of time will lead to disappointment. And that's all he says. From that e-mail from Capt. O'Brien, I would say that it sounds like Shawn's not coming home until next year.

Sunday April 1, 2007 Well, Shawn called Jennie a little after 5 this morning (first time She's heard from him since Monday, is really glad 'coz she was getting very worried about him). He is moving into Iraq on the 7th, which means that she'll be getting an address for him to give out around the 7th. Yay, something to look forward to. He told her to tell everyone that he loves you and misses you. He said that he's extremely homesick. He did tell her that he needs bars of soap, deodorant, q-tips, calling cards, and toothpaste, and just things like that. You can't send anything in a can (such as shaving cream) as the pressure differences will cause it to explode. Jennie told him that I had hung up pictures of him in Ashlyn's crib so that she could see him everyday and it got him to laugh and smile. He said it felt good to actually be able to laugh or smile. Jennie knows that Shawn is really looking forward to getting letters from everyone, he tells her everytime they've talked how much he misses everyone.

Tuesday April 10, 2007 Shawn is spending his days in class not sure what type of class but I'm sure they are preparing them for going into the cities.

Shawn is back home for the time being and will probably have to go back to Iraq later this year... what a bummer for both of them.