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Monday, July 19, 2004
Families, friends welcome veterans
MARK I. JOHNSON | News-Journal Staff Writer
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — With a grandmotherly air, Janet Hardesty wandered among soldiers and their families making sure everyone had enough to eat, got a piece of cake or was welcomed home from the war.
The 74-year-old Ormond Beach resident is volunteer family readiness coordinator for the Daytona Beach Armed Forces Reserve Center. It is her job to make sure the families of soldiers serving overseas receive the support they need.
On Sunday that meant Hardesty played hostess for the center’s second summer family picnic at U.S. Coast Guard Station Ponce de Leon Inlet in New Smyrna Beach.
“She is the mother of the family readiness group,” said Capt. Shane Darrisaw, commanding officer of the Daytona Beach-based 559th transportation detachment.
The Desert Storm veteran said knowing families have someone to turn to for routine help like finding babysitters or getting information from overseas allows soldiers to concentrate on the mission rather than worry about those they left behind.
Sgt. Steve Harper agreed. He recently returned from 16 months on active duty, part of it in the Middle East.
“(It is important) having people there to call in the middle of the night that can help out in a bind,” Harper said.
The 28-year-old Orange City resident was one of the honored guests at Sunday’s gathering. Other returning soldiers included Sgt. Jacqueline Boyle, 22, Ormond Beach, and Specialist Anthony Williams, 21, Orlando, after being pulled from their Daytona Beach unit, the 194th transportation detachment, and sent overseas. The picnic was the first chance the trio had to be formally welcomed back by their peers.
“This makes it real,” Boyle said. “It means I am home and don’t have to go back any time soon.”
For Hardesty, helping to provide such a welcome is a way she can show her support for those serving in the military.
“I am not able to lace up a boot or I would,” she said.
During the picnic, the soldiers and families remembered those still oversees by filming a video postcard to seven of their comrades.
Williams said such a present is welcome during a long deployment.
“It is part of the essentials,” he said. “Just seeing my family on television was enough for me.”