« Democrat Wanna Be John McCain Gets Booed At His Townhall Meeting | Main | The Balloonist »
August 26, 2009
Sister, Brother Reunite in Iraq
Chief Warrant Officer Heath Wieseler chats with his sister, Sgt. Andrea Wieseler, in a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter on COB Speicher Aug. 13. Heath and Andrea spent a few days together after not seeing each other for more than two years.
Sister, Brother Reunite in Iraq
CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq
Deployments usually separate Soldiers from their families. However, for one Red Bull Soldier, it provided the chance to reunite with her brother.
Sgt. Andrea Wieseler, a telecommunications sergeant with the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division, hadn't seen her brother, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Heath Wieseler, in more than two years. Heath, a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot, is deployed to Contingency Operating Base Speicher with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment, 10th Mountain Division.
Andrea's supervisors allowed her to take some time to meet up with her brother.
"I have been waiting for this since the day I arrived in Iraq," Andrea said.
Although Heath knew there would be a possibility Andrea would get the opportunity to come up and see him, she surprised him early. He was on a mission to drop off passengers at Camp Liberty in Baghdad. At the last moment, he was informed he was to pick up passengers to take back to COB Speicher, not knowing one of those passengers was his sister.
They flew to COB Speicher and after Heath landed the helicopter, they greeted each other with a hug and the emotions started to flow.
"It caught me by surprise when I looked back to see her get on the helicopter," Heath said.
It turned out they were able to spend a few days to catch up on old times and have some great laughs.
"Everything worked out perfect," said Andrea. "I was so happy to have him pick me up in his helicopter; he is a real hero to me."
Heath has traveled a lot in his 16 years of active duty. Military training and travel have prevented him from returning to his hometown of Howard Lake, Minn., to see his family.
"It was so great to have Andrea around," Heath said. "It was nice to be with family, someone you can share common things and talk about family back in Minnesota."
The two of them spent time talking, laughing and sharing events of the past two years. Heath talked about his wife Geri and sons Tyler and Trevor, while Andrea shared her experiences of the deployment so far and the friendships she has made.
"I was so excited; it was a dream come true," Andrea said. "I waited a long time for this."
Wild Thing's comment......
What a neat story, I am thrilled they got to see each other in Iraq. That time together will be special to them for the rest of their lives.
God bless Sgt. Andrea Wieseler and her brother Chief Warrant Officer Heath Wieseler.
Posted by Wild Thing at August 26, 2009 03:40 AM
Comments
Yes, great story. It seems like there are so many stories of families involved in the military today. I think America is developing a warrior class. Only 1% of America serves in the military forces, yet many of them are related. Or they are descendants of earlier warriors, ie: father is a Vietnam vet or Granpa was a WWII vet.
I know that National Guard members are sometimes referred to as "citizen soldiers" but they are deployed so much, they are more like the regulars. I always considered citizen soldiers to be those who joined or were drafted during wartime, then got out. With today's all-volunteer armed forces and almost permanant war with islamic terrorism, the citizen soldier has pretty much become a career professional. Technology has allowed for declining need for manpower, so very few serve.
I think it is not a good thing that so few serve their country. It removes most of America from the reality of warfare. So few pay such a steep price for so many.
Also, I have become used to the idea of females doing so many jobs in the military. Even jobs that expose them to combat. However I think it is a shame that a smaller military in a country with a growing population has to rely on women to perform jobs because the average young American male refuses to volunteer his services. I think that recruiting stations should have long lines of patriotic young men in front everyday. It is easy to be patriotic when it costs you nothing.
Posted by: TomR at August 26, 2009 11:51 AM
Wonderful story, thank you Chrissie. I spent last Saturday night amongst long lost brothers, 40th homecoming reunion, it was great but I'm still sorting my emotions.
Well stated Tom: "It is easy to be patriotic when it costs you nothing."
Posted by: Jack at August 26, 2009 12:24 PM
Great article WT. Tom said it all and I agree 100%.
Posted by: Mark at August 26, 2009 07:49 PM
Tom, I agree with you so much.
It bothers me that more don't enlist and
many of the ones that don't have an
attitude of let someone else do it.
Thank you Tom, Ditto all you said.
Posted by: Wild Thing at August 27, 2009 01:01 AM
Jack, thank you for sharing about the
reunion. Those reunions are deep and
special.
Posted by: Wild Thing at August 27, 2009 01:03 AM
