It was her dream since she was a little girl.
Growing up in Hollister, she watched as family members donned
the uniform, traveled to far-away places and participated in the
esoteric life of an American soldier.
For 20-year-old Faith Gaitan, the enigmatic life of her family
members she looked up to for so long is now her own and her dream
is a reality.
It was her dream since she was a little girl.
Growing up in Hollister, she watched as family members donned the uniform, traveled to far-away places and participated in the esoteric life of an American soldier.
For 20-year-old Faith Gaitan, the enigmatic life of her family members she looked up to for so long is now her own and her dream is a reality.
It’s a reality that is about to get a whole lot more real today, when she leaves her friends, family and hometown for the last time before traveling to Iraq.
“I’m excited because I want to go,” Gaitan said. “I want to see what it’s like over there.”
Gaitan, a private first class in the United States Army, entered the military two years ago when she graduated from high school.
She’s been stationed in Fort Hood, Texas, for most of her time until now. She arrived in Hollister on Dec. 23, and after leaving the day after Christmas, she will travel back to Texas. She will depart to Iraq at the end of February or beginning of March, she said.
Her time spent in Hollister was short, but during the precious days she was home she spent them with friends and family, as well as helping feed needy families at Sacred Heart Church with Marle Holte’s group, she said.
“We do it every year,” said Anita Alvarez, Gaitan’s mother. “(This year) it’s very emotional.”
Her tour will last 12 to 13 months, so this could be the last Christmas she spends with her family until 2005.
The intimidation of going to war hasn’t succeeded in rattling Gaitan’s nerves, at least “not yet,” she said.
Her job in Iraq will be to supply aviation units like the military airplanes and, although she won’t be doing any fighting, she realizes anywhere an American soldier sets foot over there is dangerous.
“It’s scary,” said Pfc. Michael Neitsch, a friend who Gaitan met while in Texas and brought home with her for the holidays. “The moment you think you’re not in any danger, that’s when you find out you really are. You’ve always got to be careful.”
Neitsch, 22, who spent the last nine months in Iraq, is on leave right now and will be deployed back to Iraq on Jan. 4. Most of the work his unit did while in the Middle East was “pulling guard,” he said.
Guarding various areas and making sure certain buildings stayed secure occupied most of Neitsch’s time, but it was different than what he expected when he joined the Army.
“You have to do things that you don’t think you’re ever prepared for – you get into situations that you never thought,” he said. “I thought I would never fire my weapon, that’s not the type of attitude I went into the army with.”
Neitsch’s advice to Gaitan is simple, logical and truthful, but he doesn’t feel the need to tell her too much about what it’s like in Iraq because she needs to see it and experience it all for herself, he said.
“It’s something she’s looking forward to doing,” he said. “But like I told her the first day I got back: When you go over there you’ve got to be strong, you’ve got to be careful and you’ve got to take it serious every day.”
The communication services are much better for the service men and women now than they were when the war began, so Gaitan will be able to call her mother often to keep her updated as to her progress and her safety, Neitsch said.
Because the soldiers aren’t permitted to give their locations or say much about what they’re doing over the phone, Gaitan plans on sticking to what her mother feels is the most important issues.
“I’ll tell her I’m OK and not to worry,” she said.
Hearing that every day will be a priority for Alvarez, who will spend her daughter’s entire tour worrying, she said.
While Gaitan is in Iraq, Alvarez doesn’t plan on watching TV very much because the constant news about the perils of the war would be too hard for her to watch, she said.
Instead, she will pull on her parents and the rest of her family for strength and has resigned herself that her daughter has a will and a mind of her own, which she respects.
“I didn’t want her to go. I’m scared,” Alvarez said. “But that’s what she chose.”
