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Capt.
James Johnson had several reasons to be happy about
a 15-day leave from his post as battalion supply
officer in Mosul, Iraq - not the least of which was
getting to see his wife, Lori, and hold his new
daughter for the first time.
Rileigh Faith was born Oct. 22 - about three weeks
after Johnson, a career Army man, shipped out for
his new assignment in the Middle East.
He left his bride of almost four years to stay with
her parents, Tommy and Susan McMillan, and teach
math at Ash Sixth Grade.
The Johnsons had lived at Fort Lewis, Wash., the
past three years after he graduated from Texas Tech
with a degree in telecommunications. He is a 1995
graduate of San Antonio Judson High School and she
is a 1997 graduate of PHS.
While in Washington, Mrs. Johnson taught school and
also sang with the Seattle Symphony Chorus. She is a
member of the Sanctuary Choir at First Baptist here.
“My heart melted,” Johnson admitted after holding
his daughter, who cooed repeatedly during a phone
interview Saturday.
He called about 15 minutes after she was born.
“They´re nine hours ahead of us in Iraq but he
usually calls me about 1 p.m.,” said Mrs. Johnson.
Her husband arrived at the Lubbock airport about 2
p.m. Friday after leaving Mosul in Northern Iraq at
midnight Thursday and flying to Kuwait, then to
Shannon, Ireland, to Dallas and then to Lubbock on a
commercial aircraft transporting 140 soldiers.
Johnson said he got to come home a little earlier
than expected due to the birth of his daughter.
Johnson said he has 608 soldiers in his battallion
as well as 92 locals working for him in such jobs as
building, painting, carpentry and plumbing. “We buy
supplies from a lot of them,” he said.
He believes “the people I deal with like us
(Americans). One of my interpreters said what we are
doing is good and he hopes some day Iraq can be
free. He was a member of (ousted dictator) Saddam
Hussein´s Baath Party but said he was forced to join
so he could go to college.”
Johnson says he has a 12-year-old member of the
minority Kurdish Christian community who operates a
store at his Forward Operating Base Marez while his
parents run another store there. “I take him candy
and have dinner with him sometime. His parents are
afraid to send him to school for fear of what might
happen to him. We´re trying to set up some kind of
school on the base,” Johnson added.
He said that Mosul experienced some major resistance
when the fighting in the opposition stronghold of
Fallujah kicked off several months ago. “We had an
influx (of insurgents) but we put a stop to it.”
Much of the news he receives comes from CNN or the
state-run Al-Jazeera television. “You can´t believe
what we see on Al-Jazeera. They may have a mortar
attack that didn´t hurt anyone and claim that 300
Americans were killed.
“I don´t know how long we´ll be in Iraq but our
mission is to bring stability to the area and hope
to get the people to the point where they can
operate without us. Our soldiers want to be there
because we believe in what we´re doing.”
Responding to a major news story last week, Johnson
said he had seen the reports of some soldiers using
makeshift armor on Humvees but noted his battalion
has all the latest equipment. “Nothing leaves the
base without armor,” he said.
He anticipates coming home next September and
redeploying, probably to advanced school at Fort
Lee, Va.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Johnson is effusive in her praise of
the support she has received from her hometown.
“This town has been so supportive. I can´t go
anywhere without someone asking about James and when
is he coming home and saying we´re praying for you.´
The generosity and support have been unbelievable.
“The kids at Ash collected money and gift bags for
James´s soldiers and wrote letters, the American
Legion sent stuff and the College Hill fourth
graders (where her mother teaches school) made
posters,” she added.
“I´m lucky to have a family to come home to. I don´t
know how some spouses do it on their own. There are
four of us (including brother, Chance, a Wayland
student) with one baby and we can hardly handle it,”
Mrs. Johnson said with a laugh.
©Plainview Daily Herald 2004
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