A young couple talks about their military experience
NORWICH – “We wish people could be that way all the time,” said National Guardsman Jason Kelsey, after a member of Chenango County Republican Women’s Club recalled the patriotism and unity Americans displayed in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
He and his wife Emerine spoke at the club’s monthly meeting Tuesday, the anniversary of largest terrorist attack on American soil.
Both are veterans of the U.S. Air Force. Out by 2003, Jason then joined the National Guard after the U.S. invaded Iraq. He was deployed there for 50 days a year and half ago.
“We realized we weren’t finished,” said Emerine, a 1994 graduate of Norwich High School, referring to her husband’s decision to get back into the military.
Admitting, as a military family, that their work may never be finished, she says their sense of duty began creeping in at childhood.
“We’re very patriotic. It’s how we are,” said Emerine. “And that’s how we were raised, as well.”
Both told the crowd inside the Guernsey Memorial Library that 9/11, for them, ushered in an entirely new feeling of respect for the people who protect and fight for this country.
“Our lives changed drastically,” Emerine said. “It was a whole new era of respect and admiration.”
The couple was living in Washington, D.C. at the time of the attacks. They happened to be in New York at the time.
“It was a weird feeling, living less than a few miles from one of the targets,” she acknowledged.
Always on the move, the two, with their young children, at one point lived on nine different military bases in two years. “It’s an interesting life,” Jason said.
He admitted being hopeful for a deployment to Iraq while with the National Guard, but added that it’s never easy to leave a family behind.
“It’s very tough. It’s tough when your kids say ‘daddy don’t go,’” he said. “But that’s what I was trained to do. I wanted my career (in the Guard) to have meaning.”
Emerine said meaning and history have been the driving forces behind their motivation to enlist and stay in armed forces as a family.
“You realize you’re part of something bigger,” she said. “We’re fighting for what they (past generations) gave us. The freedom they gave us.”
Jason said the moral in Iraq is high. He pointed specifically to the Army, whose soldiers have been there the longest.
“The Army guys have it the toughest. They’ve been there the longest, they’ve been in the trenches,” he said. “It wares on them. But they have that sense of mission.”
It’s a possibility he will be deployed there again.
Overall, the couple reminded the group that America’s military is all voluntary, which may sometimes be forgotten.
“Many people enlist knowing they’re going to war in Iraq,” Emerine said. “It’s an overwhelming thought sometimes.”
He and his wife Emerine spoke at the club’s monthly meeting Tuesday, the anniversary of largest terrorist attack on American soil.
Both are veterans of the U.S. Air Force. Out by 2003, Jason then joined the National Guard after the U.S. invaded Iraq. He was deployed there for 50 days a year and half ago.
“We realized we weren’t finished,” said Emerine, a 1994 graduate of Norwich High School, referring to her husband’s decision to get back into the military.
Admitting, as a military family, that their work may never be finished, she says their sense of duty began creeping in at childhood.
“We’re very patriotic. It’s how we are,” said Emerine. “And that’s how we were raised, as well.”
Both told the crowd inside the Guernsey Memorial Library that 9/11, for them, ushered in an entirely new feeling of respect for the people who protect and fight for this country.
“Our lives changed drastically,” Emerine said. “It was a whole new era of respect and admiration.”
The couple was living in Washington, D.C. at the time of the attacks. They happened to be in New York at the time.
“It was a weird feeling, living less than a few miles from one of the targets,” she acknowledged.
Always on the move, the two, with their young children, at one point lived on nine different military bases in two years. “It’s an interesting life,” Jason said.
He admitted being hopeful for a deployment to Iraq while with the National Guard, but added that it’s never easy to leave a family behind.
“It’s very tough. It’s tough when your kids say ‘daddy don’t go,’” he said. “But that’s what I was trained to do. I wanted my career (in the Guard) to have meaning.”
Emerine said meaning and history have been the driving forces behind their motivation to enlist and stay in armed forces as a family.
“You realize you’re part of something bigger,” she said. “We’re fighting for what they (past generations) gave us. The freedom they gave us.”
Jason said the moral in Iraq is high. He pointed specifically to the Army, whose soldiers have been there the longest.
“The Army guys have it the toughest. They’ve been there the longest, they’ve been in the trenches,” he said. “It wares on them. But they have that sense of mission.”
It’s a possibility he will be deployed there again.
Overall, the couple reminded the group that America’s military is all voluntary, which may sometimes be forgotten.
“Many people enlist knowing they’re going to war in Iraq,” Emerine said. “It’s an overwhelming thought sometimes.”
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