Rodney Spry’s attention changed quickly last week.
In less than 48 hours, the International Falls native went from overseeing troops in his charge as a sergeant in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan to dividing his attention between his two children, Olivia, 4, and Hunter, 2, back in Borderland.
Spry returned from his 12-month deployment to a world he hasn’t experienced for some time.
“I want to sit with daddy” Hunter whined Friday at The Journal as he watched his older sister snuggle up into their father’s lap.
Olivia, known to her family as Livy, shot her brother a victorious grin before resuming the drawing she was working on. It only made Hunter whimper louder.
Spry’s wife, Shaila, just shook her head.
“I guess I don’t matter anymore,” she laughed.
While the constant bickering between the children may get frustrating, Rodney says it is what he missed the most.
“Being away from them...away from this, that was the hardest,” a soft-spoken Rodney said as Hunter finally wriggled his way onto his father’s other knee.
Rodney has been stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, for the past 12 months as a sergeant with the 1515 Transportation Company of Germany. It was the 26-year-old’s third – and final – deployment since enlisting in the Army as a fresh Falls High School graduate in 2005.
“I’m pretty nervous of what the future holds,” Shaila said Friday. “It’s a whole new life settling back in our hometown as a whole family and starting a new adventure.”
In the almost seven years that the couple has been married, a military lifestyle is all they’ve ever known. Rodney and Shaila agreed that getting to the moment where Rodney wouldn’t be looking at another deployment hasn’t been easy and there have been speed bumps along the way, but in the moment that the four of them were reunited Feb. 27, it was all worth it.
Through thick
and thin
Rodney and Shaila were married Sept. 8, 2006, just three months after Shaila’s graduation from Littlefork-Big Falls School. The newlyweds moved to an Army base in Texas to spend time together before Rodney was deployed.
The first year of marriage has its own set of obstacles for any couple, and throwing in a deployment just more than a month after the vows added stress, Shaila said.
“It was so hard,” she said. “I think I worried constantly.”
When Rodney left at the end of October 2006, Shaila returned home to Littlefork to be closer to her family and support system.
Rodney, on the other hand, was thousands of miles away serving as a corporal in Baghdad, Iraq with the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Calvary division.
“That first deployment was by far the most terrifying,” Rodney, who served as a truck driver, recalled. “You’re always on high alert.”
He described life in Iraq’s largest city as “pretty dangerous.” He said he remembers driving out of the forward operating base for his first mission and felt a surge of “a pretty intense fear.”
“We didn’t know who we’re fighting – everyone was dressed the same,” he said. “I guess you’re always pretty much waiting to get hit. You hear all the stories, but when its actually your turn to go...you’re more than nervous. I wasn’t even two miles out of the FOB before (the tank) got hit that first mission.”
Rodney admitted he doesn’t talk much about his experience, and has a pretty quiet demeanor. Shaila agreed.
“He doesn’t say a lot about himself,” she said. “He never said much about what he was going through while he was gone.”
Overcoming hurdles
Rodney’s first deployment was extended from 12 to 15 months and he missed Livy’s Dec. 27, 2008, birth.
“That wasn’t easy,” he said, adding he found out he had a daughter through the Internet.
And on top of being absent to welcome his daughter into the world, Rodney said he and Shaila “weren’t getting along.”
“We just kind of skip that time,” Shaila said of the off and on relationship the couple struggled through.
In the same breath, she acknowledged that because she and Rodney were still only 19 and 20 years old, they “didn’t know how to handle” the separation.
“We had a lot of growing up to do,” she said. “Looking back now, we know that.”
Rodney said he saw the families of comrades in his battalion fall apart and he didn’t want his to suffer the same fate.
“We went through two years of hell, but we pulled through,” Shaila said.
Differences were settled and the couple put the official stamp on being back together in April of 2009, just in time for Rodney to return to Baghdad.
“That time wasn’t like the first,” he said of the deployment. “We spent more efforts rebuilding the city and got along with a lot of the civilians.”
Coming together overseas
At the end of Rodney’s second deployment, he remained stationed for work in Germany. To bring their family back together, Shaila and Livy in 2010 moved half way around the world to be with Rodney. And because Shaila was pregnant, the family of three was about to become a party of four.
“It was good to be there for Hunter’s birth,” Rodney said of his son who was born Nov. 28, 2010. “I hated missing out on things.”
And while the family was enjoying their time together, the events of May 4, 2011, ultimately lead to Shaila returning home.
“It was the day we bought a new car and I was following Rod to go pick it up,” Shaila recalls.
As she was traveling about 80 miles per hour down the German autobahn, the Explorer she was driving was rear ended by a faster-moving vehicle, causing Shaila to lose control at the wheel.
“We hit a concrete median and rolled three times before landing in a ditch,” she said.
Rodney said he helplessly watched the entire event from his rear view mirror.
“I almost hit my breaks, but if I did that, she would have hit me,” he said. “All I could do was watch her roll.”
Luckily, Shaila, Livy and Hunter all walked away with minor bumps and bruises, but the emotional scars are still there, Shaila said.
“Everything is just so fast over there,” she said of Germany. “I was just having a hard time with everything.”
With Rodney’s third deployment looming, the couple knew the right move would be for Shaila and the children to return home in September 2011.
“I needed to know she’d be taken care of while I was away,” Rodney said. “She needed her family.
Deployment 2.0
In February of 2012, Rodney, now serving as a sergeant, was positioned out of Kandahar, Afghanistan – the county’s second largest city.
“For awhile now, the Army’s focus has been mainly training and rebuilding, the focus isn’t on fighting,” he said. “We were helping the locals and working toward rebuilding the country.”
The Sprys said the third deployment, like the previous two, was difficult and credited the Internet for alleviating struggles on both sides of the screen.
“We got to talk pretty often,” Shaila said.
The couple agreed that being able to video chat and connecting through Facebook guided them through tough times.
“Being able to see my kids’ progress through her pictures really helped,” Rodney said. “That is how I watched them grow up.”
Long-distance electronic communications keep the Sprys as close as technology can, but it doesn’t compare to the real thing, Shaila said.
The real thing
Rodney’s contract was up for renewal this year, and he said he made the decision to leave the service at what he felt was the right time.
“I’ve spent the last seven and a half years in the Army. I knew I either had to get out now or wait another three years,” he said. “If I did that, it would bring me half way to retirement and I already knew I wasn’t going to be able to do this for 20 years.”
And so, a group of about 30 family, friends and community members gathered at the Falls International Airport Feb. 27 to thank Rodney for his service and welcome him home – for good.
Livy and Hunter may not have been old enough to comprehend what exactly was going on last week, but when their daddy got off the plane, wearing civilian clothes, there was nothing but cheers.
“It hasn’t really hit us that he’s done,” Shaila said. “I’m just so glad he’s home.”
The next step is getting back to a regular routine for the Sprys. Shaila said they will travel to Missouri this month to pick up Rodney’s vehicle and it will be the first time they’ve spent more than one night together away from the kids.
“I can’t wait,” a smiling Shaila said.
Rodney is also starting a new job next week – beating the odds of soldiers who return to life as a civilian and struggle to find work.
“I had to do something,” he said. “I couldn’t see myself just sitting around.”
Looking back, Rodney said he was proud of what was accomplished while he served for his country and was confident it was the right move to make in his life.
“I did it for them,” he said of Hunter and Livy, who by this time, were off their father’s knees and battling for his attention yet again. “They make it worth it.”
