Cars and Parts Springfield Swap Meet
Carroll Commencement
Fairborn commencement
Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > July > 17 > Entry
Kevin Riley: A baseball dad, and so much more
Last weekend, I was in Nashville, Tenn., at a tournament with my son’s baseball team.
In most ways, it was the typical experience many parents have of joining your kid’s team or club on an out-of-town trip: watching them compete, hanging out at the pool, organizing meals, enforcing curfews and finding something for them to do during the down time.
And the parents, together for long periods instead of for just one short game, got to know each other a little better.
But we had one parent missing.
Mark White, father of infielder Ryan White, had deployed to Iraq just a few days before the trip. Instead of joining his family in Nashville, Col. White was at Kirkuk Regional Air Base in northern Iraq. He’s in charge of the 506th Expeditionary Medical Squadron and runs the hospital at that base.
Through this season, as our team got to know White and his family, we gained insight into Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and life in the Air Force. The base employs a large number of people; at times it’s hard for those of us outside its gates to understand its many operations (Air Force people say “missions”) and people.
But when you’ve developed a direct connection to an Air Force family, it helps you appreciate their commitment.
It started with Ryan coming to the team tryouts last fall. He was new to school, and some of our players knew and liked him. And he’s a good player. Through the winter, during indoor workouts and parents’ meetings, Mark was usually around, lending a hand.
Occasionally it was clear he’d rushed from work, and sometimes he’d still be in uniform. Like many of us, I wasn’t sure about asking him about his job; often the Wright-Patt folks can’t or won’t talk about their work.
As games began this spring, we became friends. I learned that he was a senior administrator at the Wright-Patt hospital. He’d moved to the base almost a year ahead of his family. His wife, Kim, daughter, Sam, and Ryan joined him from Virginia in the fall of 2008, after he’d spent time scouting out schools and places to live.
Dayton was the latest stop after stints in Wyoming, Michigan, Louisiana, Mississippi, Hawaii and Colorado.
He’s part of the 88th Air Base Wing, the unit responsible for operating Wright-Patterson, including the hospital. He’ll be in Iraq for six months. He is among the 300 to 500 airmen from Wright-Patt who are deployed to places like Iraq and Afghanistan on any given day.
Because the base is so large, and has so many areas of expertise, its units are sent to the war theaters as security forces, medical specialists, engineers and logistical experts. White emphasized that his role is not like so many military men and women who are in front-line combat roles.
He’ll run a small hospital that provides care to troops and also to injured Iraqis. He had to train intensely, including learning how to react in a chemical attack and how to defend the hospital if it came under attack.
When White first told his children about the deployment, they cried. He will be away from home for his wedding anniversary, several birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
While he’s in Iraq, he has e-mail, and he can call home twice per week for 15 minutes. The military calls them “morale calls.”
When I talked to White a few days before he left, he was focused on his family. He said he was “spending time with my family. Doing the day-to-day stuff that most people don’t think about much.” Like attending his son’s baseball games.
In Nashville, our team had some good moments and some bad.
Ryan was injured when a ground ball took a bad hop on him. He kept playing, but after he returned to Dayton, we found out he’d broken his thumb.
The boys, as always, had hoped to win the tournament. We didn’t, so most of us left a little disappointed. But I thought about Col. White and just appreciated being there.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Columns, Kevin Riley, Sports and Recreation, Wright Patterson Air Force Base
Comments
By Aunt Pat
July 18, 2009 11:42 AM | Link to this
Thanks for you very caring article. Mark’s AuntBy Derek
July 27, 2009 6:11 PM | Link to this
This editorial was a class act. In a very personal way, it touches on what military family life is like today, where frequent deployments are the norm and the sacrifices are very real. Thanks!