Fairview, West Virginia

Family keeps soldier in their hearts, minds
March 20, 2003

MGA

FAIRVIEW - Together for five years, Russell and Kristen Craig married just two days before Russell left West Virginia, the bride said.

And the Army staff sergeant with the 459th Engineering has been in northern Kuwait near the Iraqi border for about a month now as international officials with increased intensity debated means to diplomatically persuade Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to disarm.

Doing so through force became evident late Wednesday as the earliest stages of war started - clear after President George W. Bush formally announced at 10:15 p.m. that preliminary stages of war had begun with the striking of selected targets in Iraq.

"I'm proud of him for joining the service," father Chuck Craig said, speaking for many families in his position. "But I just wish he was home. I wish he didn't have to go over there."

Russell enlisted six years ago with a friend - they've been together since, from basic training in Missouri on, Chuck said.

"We support him 100 percent," he said. "He's proud to be in the service and he's proud to serve his country. I do know that."

Time without their son - the husband - has been difficult on Chuck and his wife, Vicky, and, of course, Kristen, but they've earnestly kept the 26-year-old soldier in their hearts - on their minds. Kristen sends a letter each day and Chuck and Vicky get something into the mail several times each week. But Chuck says he hasn't spoken with his son for almost 14 days. Kristen said as the issue progressively heightened in the Middle East, communication was disallowed.

Still, Vicky managed to get a special package to her son last month - on his birthday no less.

The Crags won't let up.

"We love him and we miss him a lot," his father said. "We wish him well and a safe return home. There was nothing harder than seeing him leave (for Kuwait)." Just hours before Bush's four-minute speech at the Oval Office, Kristen, whose mother married her father just two days before he left for Vietnam, said she wouldn't be watching the news if and when war broke.

"They told us all not to watch the news," she said of people administering a support group for families with loved ones directly facing the crisis in the Middle East. "It's not going to make you feel better. It's only going to make you feel worse."

Instead, Kristen predicted that she'd be spending time with her family once the offensive began, thankful that there's support among members - a positive approach. "We can't think negatively about what's happening," she said. Like her father-in-law, Kristen said she loves Russell and supports what he's doing - longing for his return home.

"He's there to do a job and he's going to do it to the best of his ability," Chuck said. "He loves his country a lot. He believes in freedom. That's more or less why they're there, to liberate that country."