Photo By Sgt. Roland Hale | Chief Warrant Officer 2 Chris Soder (left) and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Sean Soder...... read more read more
Subscribe
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Two brothers serving as pilots with an Army aviation brigade out of Fort Riley, Kan., will spend this Christmas deployed to Iraq.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Sean Soder and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Chris Soder, natives of Ogden, Kan., are deployed together as Black Hawk helicopter pilots in the Enhanced Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. The brigade left Fort Riley earlier this year for its second deployment to Iraq.
The brothers deployed hoping to spend their tour together, but were separated when the brigade spread across the country this summer. Now, Sean and Chris are doing their best to bring the holiday spirit to the bases they call home this Christmas.
“In some ways you try to treat it like any other day,” said Sean.
Sean, the 35-year-old elder brother, is a veteran of deployed holidays. This year marks his fourth Christmas spent in the Middle East, and for him the day means continuing a make-do tradition.
“I’ve got my Hickory Farms gift basket and a bunch of Christmas movies,” said Sean. “My wife sends me that every year, so I guess it’s become my Christmas tradition.”
The deployments get easier with time, with this tour being an exception, said Sean, who is separated from his wife Christina and 2-year-old daughter Ariana.
“I’m ready to get back home,” said Sean. “Hopefully this is my last Christmas in Iraq.”
Sean said he plans to get as close to home as possible on Christmas Day by video chatting with his wife and daughter.
Chris, 32, who graduated K-State in 2001 and recently followed Sean’s path to becoming a pilot, is serving his first deployment. As part of a company responsible for transporting VIPs, Chris will likely be flying nonstop on Christmas Day, taking commanders to visit their troops around Baghdad.
“For us it’s another day, with a better meal in the chow hall,” said Chris.
Regardless, Chris said he will find time to talk to his brother and to his parents in Ogden.
“I wish I could see him on Christmas,” he said, “but overall seeing Sean here has made it a pretty cool experience.”
Chris said that Christmas this year is probably the hardest on his parents, Tom and Nancy Soder. While they are almost accustomed to Sean being deployed, having both sons gone is a new experience for them. This year they didn’t put up a tree, said Chris.
“It’s hard to get in the spirit when your boys are gone,” said Tom.
Tom, an Army veteran of the Vietnam War, said he is always thinking about his boys’ safety.
“When you hear one of the Black Hawks goes down it scares the heck out of you,” he said. “But they joined knowing this was coming. They’ve got to do it; that’s the way they look at it.”
As much as they miss their sons though, the Soders support their mission. And while they now have two Soldiers to miss this holiday, they said it helps to know that Chris and Sean are together.
“It used to be a lot tougher,” said Nancy, who has kept letters from Sean’s first deployment. “It’s a lot nicer knowing at least they can look out for each other now.”
The brothers are scheduled to come home this spring. They plan on staying at Fort Riley and making up for this Christmas next year.
| Date Taken: | 12.24.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 12.24.2010 13:15 |
| Story ID: | 62581 |
| Location: | CAMP TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 264 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Family at War: Brothers from Fort Riley aviation brigade spend Christmas in Iraq, by SGT Roland Hale, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
