Wrist Bands Help Support Soldier

By Chris O’Nan

Members of the Church of Christ in Camden may be wearing camouflage wrists bands until March 2007 when Johnny Belisle of Camden comes flying home from Afghanistan.

Sunday, during a dinner for Belisle, minister Mike Eaton said that wrist bands similar to one Belisle received as a gift are being sought. Belisle’s camouflage wrist band bears the word “Bravery.”

“We hope to have them available to anyone who wants one, and we will wear them until Johnny comes home,” Eaton said.

Belisle, a chief warrant officer with the Army National Guard and an attack helicopter pilot, left Jan. 3 for Fort Hood, Texas, where he has been preparing for two months for the Afghanistan mission. Belisle had a two-week break in training beginning Dec. 23 and was able to spend Christmas and the New Year with his family.

“I’m proud to go - everybody wants to go do their job, what they were trained for,” Belisle said during an interview on Sunday. “Of course I hate to leave my family. I think the families have it tougher than the soldiers that leave.”

His wife, Annette, said Monday the family spent a quiet day together after nearly two weeks of “fixing things around the house” and making other preparations for her husband’s departure.

“It’s been a hard night and day,” she said Monday night. “He has to be in Jackson (at the National Guard Armory) at 8:30 in the morning. It’s scary. I’m very nervous about it, even though I know we have a lot of love and support from family and friends. We have a wonderful church family.”

Belisle has a daughter, Kellie, 20, who attends Freed-Hardeman University and three sons, David, 17, Daniel, 11, and Sam, 10. David will graduate this year while Daniel and Sam attend Holladay School.

Belisle said the Afghanistan deployment came as a surprise. Previously, his unit members in Jackson - R Troop of the 4/278th Armored Cavalry Regiment - were told they would likely not deploy overseas until 2010.

The Army recently decided to deploy its high-powered Apache attack helicopters, which are able to fly high enough to breech the small country’s mountains, some of which reach an altitude of 12,000 feet. Belisle has been training as a pilot in Apache helicopters.

He said the current Tennessee Guard deployment is joined by National Guardsmen from Idaho and Army Reservists in Texas. Belisle is part of one of the largest task forces to go to Afghanistan. About 18,000 U.S. soldiers are serving in Afghanistan.

The task force will fly security and escort missions and operate as support for ground troops during enemy engagement.

His parents, Frank and Mary Belisle, are owners of Belisle Machine & Tool Inc., where he works. They said although they are proud that their son will be serving his country, they are saddened by the prospect of wartime engagements and a long absence.

“No parent wants to send their child into harms way,” Frank Belisle said. “We see him every day at work, so it is really going to be hard,” Mary Belisle said.

Kellie Belisle said she will be home from college more often to help her mother with the younger children.

“We will all really miss him,” she said. “I take comfort from the fact that he is going there with a real good group of guys. I feel they will take care of each other and he will be protected.”

Original article is located here.