Junior Terin Ramsey knows what it’s like to have a deployed family friend. Tommy Dawson (whom she considers as an uncle), a Staff Sergeant in the Air Force, is currently serving in Afghanistan.
Ramsey said she has a close relationship with Dawson.
“It’s really hard without him.” Ramsey said.
Ramsey said having Dawson overseas affects the entire family.
“My dad doesn’t like it (that he’s gone). He considers him as his brother,” Ramsey said. “My mom understands that he had to go there (Afghanistan), but it’s still hard for her too.”
The Air Force made Dawson move to Missouri three months before he was deployed. Ramsey’s family never got to say their goodbyes to him in person.
“(The Air Force) told him he was coming back in December,” Ramsey said, “but they ended up making him stay longer than he was (first projected to). He can’t even come back for Christmas.”
Ramsey was devastated when the Air Force told Dawson he had to stay longer.
“I was in tears and I said ‘now I have to wait longer to see you again, longer that I have to worry that something’s going to happen to you’,” Ramsey said.
Ramsey said it would hurt Dawson’s family a lot if something happened to him.
“It would be hard on his kids to go through life without a dad,” Ramsey said, “and his wife would have to raise them alone.”
Ramsey also worries about Dawson while he’s overseas.
“I was very scared that something was going to happen to him,” she said. “I feel like something is going to happen and I’m not going to get to see him again.”
It hasn’t been easy for Dawson’s family while he’s been gone, and with the holiday season coming up, emotions are running high.”
“It’s frustrating because we see what its doing to his kids and his wife.” Michelle Ramsey, Terin Ramsey’s mother, said. “We were upset because you never think something like that (having Dawson over seas) will hit home.”
Ramsey can talk to Dawson via Skype, but only around 4pm on Thursdays when he isn’t too busy. Although these days are often few and far between.
“I haven’t been able to talk to him since the 11th of September,” Ramsey said. “He’s been really busy with things and he hasn’t been able to get on (Skype).”
When they can’t talk to him, they begin to fear the worst.
“When he doesn’t get on, we get really worried,” Ramsey said. “I feel like something happened when he can’t talk to us.”
Even though they communicate through Skype and email, Ramsey still wishes she could spend time with Dawson again.
“We’d go shopping together,” Ramsey said. “We were always at his house. We’d barbecue and ride four-wheelers. We had more of a father-daughter relationship than an uncle-niece relationship.”
Although it seems to be in the very distant future for Ramsey, she eagerly awaits the return of her uncle.
“I’m really excited for him to come back,” she said. “He’s going to come and visit us.”
Michelle Ramsey has advice for family members facing the deployment of a loved one to a war zone.
“Stay strong, stay in contact with the soldier as much as you can, and let them know that you love them,” Michelle Ramsey said. “Make sure they know you didn’t turn you’re back on them. everybody needs to pull together as a family. Let the soldier know your standing behind him because they have to know we stand by them not only as a family, but as a nation.”