Editor’s note: This is the second of three stories about Kauaians preparing to go to war in Iraq, and the families they’ll leave behind. PUHI — Rufino Pascual of Puhi, who at 48 is probably one of the older Kaua‘i
Editor’s note: This is the second of three stories about Kauaians preparing to go to war in Iraq, and the families they’ll leave behind.
PUHI — Rufino Pascual of Puhi, who at 48 is probably one of the older Kaua‘i members of the Hawaii Army National Guard preparing to deploy to Iraq, is quite matter-of-fact when asked about his feelings about the call to arms.
“It’s time to go, its time to go,” he says with a shrug.
A specialist with the Hawaii Army National Guard’s Company A, 2nd Battalion, 299th Infantry Regiment, Pascual, a member of the housekeeping and general-attendant staff at the Sheraton Kauai Resort in Po‘ipu for 24 years, left Friday for the Big Island’s Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) before catching a military transport to Sydney, Australia (travel time around 10 hours), for further training.
He figures his unit’s job in Iraq will be to guard the perimeter of whatever place they’ll call home for anywhere from a year to 18 months or longer once they finally go to Iraq in early February.
“Wherever you go, you’re safe as long as there’s a God and Guard. I’m not worried.” His unit will watch the Iraq national elections and stay in a camp, letting the special-forces units take patrols out of the confines of the camp, he said.
“Mostly the officers gotta be smart. If they’re not smart, they going lose.”
His wife doesn’t try to hide her concerns. “Its so scary,” said Susan Pascual, 45, who works in medical records at Kaua‘i Medical Clinic. The reality of her husband’s deployment set in, she said, when they were filling out pre-deployment paperwork at the Hanapepe armory last weekend.
The Pascual children: Royden, 18; Shyleen, 16; and Ashley, 15, are all worried about their father going to war. “I don’t want him to go,” said Shyleen Pascual. “I’m worried,” said Royden Pascual, who just graduated from Kaua‘i High School.
Money won’t be a problem for the family, as once Rufino Pascual is activated next month, the military begins making mortgage payments on their home, and covers other expenses, too, he said.
At the Sheraton Kauai Resort, his bosses understand the commitment Rufino Pascual made to be ready and available in case of war. His job will be waiting for him when he returns. Still, he asked his supervisors and co-workers to pray for him while he’s gone, he said.
The deployment will mark the first time he’s been away from his family for this long, and the first time his military decision is taking him into a war zone.
Pascual said he was planning on retiring from the Hawaii Army National Guard after returning from Australia and his two weeks of annual training. But then the deployment orders came. He re-enlisted for three more years in 2002, which will give him 24 years of service by 2006.
Pascual and other members of his unit will be fitted for brown-colored uniforms for their time in Iraq, forsaking for the time being their traditional green garb.
It’s too bad he and other members of his unit don’t get frequent-flyer miles for travel aboard military transports. Pascual left Friday for the Big Island aboard Hawaiian Airlines, will pick up a military transport from Hilo to Sydney, Australia, for more training, then it’s back to Kaua‘i, where he will formally be activated on or around Sunday, Aug. 15.
At the end of August, he is off to Schofield Barracks on O‘ahu for more training, through October, then to Texas (most likely Fort Bliss) from October to December for more training. After spending the holidays at home, he’s off to Texas the day after New Year’s, then to Iraq in February.
Calculating the 18-month deployment effective Aug. 15, he said if everything goes well he won’t have to worry about missing his middle child’s graduation from Kaua‘i High School in June 2006.
Eighteen months from this August is February 2006.
“Going to be just right.”
Tomorrow: Reporter/photographer Dennis Fujimoto’s story on several other Kauaians, including some of the women, training now for deployment to Iraq.
Paul C. Curtis, associate editor, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@pulitzer.net.
