A Gorham couple has two big reasons to worry about the war in Iraq – their sons.
Richard and Susan Pierce each have a son serving with the Army in Iraq. His son, Sgt. Richard Pierce Jr., an Army reservist, is an instructor, training Iraqi forces near Kirkut. Her son, Staff Sgt. Keith Kimball, is a truck mechanic serving with a field artillery unit. The stepbrothers are stationed about one hour away from each other.
Both veteran soldiers went to Iraq in March. “It’s heartbreaking to see your kid go,” Susan said. “He’s right in Baghdad.”
The couple hears from their sons regularly, but they reveal little about their duties. The couple’s two sons have access to computers, and there’s regular mail, which takes up to 10 days to get through.
“They’re not allowed to say much,” Susan said.
They tell their parents not to worry and the couple tries to stay busy to keep from worrying. But the couple knows Sgt. Pierce has had a close call. While on a convoy, a vehicle in front of him exploded earlier in the summer.
On the home front, his dad, a Navy veteran of the Vietnam era, follows the war on TV. “I always watch the news,” he said.
But Susan Pierce can’t bear to watch war news on TV. Like many mothers, she just wants the war to end. She said some of the U.S. soldiers in Iraq have never seen their children. “Send them all home to their families,” she said.
Her husband said that the soldiers look forward to coming home. “But the morale is good,” he said.
Susan said her mom, Bertha Frasier, 90, of Westbrook hopes and prays her grandson, Keith, is OK and says her Rosary everyday. “She says a prayer for whomever needs it each day,” Susan said.
The Gorham woman believes both their sons are physically well despite the sweltering heat with temperatures way above 100 degrees these days in Iraq. ‘My boy said its brutal,” she said. “I can’t even picture it.”
Richard Pierce said their sons have recreation in Iraq. Susan sends care packages and videotaped the Super Bowl last winter for her son and his buddies, but the troops saw the game via satellite.
Communication is dramatically different from when Susan’s husband served. “When I was overseas, I didn’t know what was going on in the states,” said Richard Pierce, recalling his long ago Navy days aboard ship.
A friend told Pierce that he saw his son on TV during a wrestling event in Iraq. “He loves wrestling,” Richard Pierce said about his son.
They said their sons have plenty of water and are eating well. Their bases provide home cooked meals, but the soldiers dine on C-rations while on maneuvers. His son told Pierce that c-rations weren’t that bad.
Both the couple’s sons go on marches. Richard said his son finds time to work out. His son, who lives in Waterboro, was home on leave in March and he thought his son’s physical condition had improved during the deployment. “My boy looks 100 percent better than when he was here,” he said.
Pierce’s son joined the Army after graduating from Bonny Eagle High School in 1982 and served nine years on active duty. He joined the reserves in 1991 and rejoined in September of last year. He married his wife, Chyrle Harmon, in 1995. He has a stepson, Devin Locke, and two sons, Dakota and Zachary.
He is now serving with the Idaho National Guard and his tour will be up in December. But Susan hasn’t heard when her son’s unit will complete their deployment. “No word yet on Keith,” she said.
Susan hasn’t seen her son, Keith, who lives in Georgia, for three years. He joined the Army after graduating from Westbrook High School in 1989. He has served two tours of duty in Korea. He married his wife, Bo Kyong Yi, there in 1993. They have a son, James, who was born in 1994.
Susan Pierce is a retired certified nurses aid and her husband, Richard, retired from the paper mill in Westbrook in 1994 after 27 years.
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