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Windsor Weekend Warrior Deployed

Local Marine Reservist answers the call to duty

Windsor resident Ben Hendricks is a full-time student at Western New England College in Springfield, Mass. He is also a Marine. Initially, he joined the Marine Corps in 2001, just after he graduated high school and prior to Sept. 11, 2001. He was subsequently deployed twice to Iraq, and when his first enlistment was through, he bought a home in Windsor, married his sweetheart, Anna, enrolled at WNEC, and then decided he missed the Marines and joined the Marine Reserve.

On May 1, his unit, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment of Fort Devens, MA was activated, meaning that the "Weekend Warriors" were being called to duty full time. Thurs., May 5, they were deployed to California for three to four months of training before the unit is sent overseas to Afghanistan.They should return to Ft. Devens in the early summer of 2012. All of these Marines are volunteers and most of them, like Ben, have jobs, school and families they are leaving behind.

Thursday morning, the families and friends of the 1/25 were invited to Family Day at the base to spend time with their Marines before they flew out to California. Each unit usually hosts an annual Family Day Picnic to thank friends and family for supporting their military careers. There is always food and activities for the children, and since it is outdoors, scheduled for warm weather. Although the calendar said May, the weather on Thursday was more like March.

Most Marines had a little posse of people that moved with them — some just days old and others old enough to remember serving in World War II. Children were surrounded by a forest of legs while wives, parents and grandparents proudly stood by, making small talk that hid their concerns and belied what they wanted to say: "I'll miss you. Be safe. Come home."

The few Marines that were on their own were busy setting up chairs for the Marine Corps League and other guests, working the bouncy gym for the kids, and serving food in the mess tent.

At 9:30 all the Marines and their guests crowded into the parade deck to hear speakers give short hellos and thanks, and to explain that the Marines here have trained for this mission, they have volunteered to serve and are called to do so. Family Readiness Officer Danielle Sabourin noted, "They are excited to go, but not excited to leave."

Other speakers reminded the families and friends that they are part of the Marines too, and encouraged them to reach out for help when they need it for themselves or their children. Military OneSource calls itself the "concierge of the military" working with families to solve a myriad of deployment challenges.

After the speeches, the health and welfare teams [wo-]manned their  booths to immediately offer support to the families. One table was stocked with small, stuffed animals and soft blankets for the kids who may be lonesome tonight.

At another booth, a mother stopped to ask Amy-Jayne McCabe of Military OneSource how she should respond to her 10 year old son who is worried that Dad might not make it back. McCabe took her hand and said,"Tell him that 99% of the guys do come back."

On the lighter side, McCabe has also arranged for pet care for deployed Marines whose parents may love them, but not their dogs.

By 12:30 the packs were loaded into the buses to take the Marines to their flight. The rules about public displays of affection were relaxed as the Marines kissed their wives, squeezed their kids, hugged their parents and then went off to do their new day job.

As the buses rolled off the base, the Marines could see two bright yellow hand made banners that said: "God Bless the USA And The 1 - 25." Semper Fi.

The author is the proud Marine Mom of SSgt. Ben Hendricks.Ooh-Rah!

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George Slate May 24, 2013 at 10:34 am
Earlier this week I sent copies of your Patch comment, and my come back comment, regarding theRead More Newsweek ranking of High Schools in the USA, to Dr. Villar's assistant. Yesterday I got back a message that includes, in part, "I have attached WHS’s application to Newsweek America’s Best High Schools 2013 as requested. Also, please see Dr. Villar’s comments below regarding the application:" Since I did this for your benefit, please call me, my phone number is published, give me an E-mail address to send this to, and I (all of us in Patch land) look forward to your analysis of the application. Thank you, in advance, for your service in this regard.
Mary Ann Overbaugh May 24, 2013 at 10:33 am
I can, people are not taking care of their properties. This may be due to health or finances but itRead More is appalling to see so many homes that have become rundown due to lack of care by their owners. That is one observation....how about a little neighborhood pride!
Hilary Carpenter May 24, 2013 at 07:43 am
As someone who also grew up in Windsor, I'm interested in what you mean by the phraseRead More "significant changes in Windsor that have contributed to the lessening appeal of our community." Can you explain what you mean by those changes?
Tim Curtis May 23, 2013 at 07:48 pm
Dear Michaela Fissel, You gave some very sound and concrete reasons as to the positives about livingRead More in Windsor. And I couldn't agree more. But then you become very vague about what specifically the differences you and your friends have seen in Windsor today. It would be very helpful to be as specific with the negatives as you were with the positives. BOE issues have been a part of Windsor, going back to at least 1984 when we first moved to town. Verbal shouting matches were not uncommon at meetings. But we've worked things out. My suggestion to you would be to visit the schools, talk to the principals and the teachers. Observe a class. Those were the people who sold us on education in Windsor, not the BOE. Tim Curtis
George Slate May 22, 2013 at 06:45 pm
Yes, success has many parents. I truly do not want to taint your story, but my question is: DoesRead More WEF have enough money to fund an EER by a legitimate researcher (or are you willing to start up a collection?)? If you do, maybe in five years you can do a similar story about our High School.
Al Simon May 24, 2013 at 08:38 am
It is an excellent question. Maybe we should study it? Oh, wait.....
CatherineDennis May 21, 2013 at 08:45 pm
Congrats to all students, parents, teachers and administrators at Sage Park. It would seem thatRead More mission statements, transparency, parent involvement all equal excellence. How much would you charge to teach these basics to those that feel the need to hire college students from Chicago to review WHS-those very same people that congratulated you tonight? The students achievements that were honored tonight were very impressive and you make us all proud. Keep up the great work at Sage Park.
George Slate May 21, 2013 at 05:07 pm
Thank you Al and Bill for the follow up comments. For both, as I understand it, the fancy words are,Read More longitudinal studies. Take the same students, or group of students if the individual data is not available, and see how the test results go from third grade to high school. I've only done a quick scan of the test results for Windsor that R. Eleveld gave us a link to earlier. Along with understanding the Town's audited financial statements (which Bill might help me with), this longitudinal information is something that I hope to work through as time permits. As I write this, I should consider a FOI to see if it already exists. If it already exists, I'm surprised that all of us do not already have easy access to it. When I have the information gathered, I will share summaries here. And for the two of you, I will share the detailed spreadsheets. As I recall, even last night the conversation centered on the High School for turn around, and regardless of what we think of the person currently engaged for the EER, the EER is for the High School only.
Jeanneen Griffin, First Vice President and Team Leader, Commercial Real Estate Lending for First Niagara's New England and Tri-State Regions
Albert Williams May 20, 2013 at 03:40 pm
Just curious...any relation to Griffin Land, Imperial Nursuries, River Bend Associates?
R Eleveld May 21, 2013 at 03:44 pm
@Slate The BoE originally said they did not believe the Town Ethics Commission had purview over theRead More BoE. Yes in November the voters can choose to continue the behavior with the current party in the majority. See the comment of WR who says a Councilor accepted responsibility here: http://windsor.patch.com/groups/schools/p/council-approves-reduction-in-education-funding
George Slate May 20, 2013 at 02:27 pm
R Eleveld - Just to clarify, The Town Ethics Committee ruled (1) that the BOE is subject to the TownRead More Ethics Code, but (2) they do not have jurisdiction over violations of BOE by laws violations. When someone is brought in front of an Ethics Committee, and comes out vindicated, one of two things happen. They are humbled, or emboldened. The BOE President, and the Superintendent of Schools are emboldened because virtually nothing stands in their way of two person absolute rule, until November 2013. The only obstacle is for one of the Democrat BOE members joining the other four BOE members to reign (the pun works all too well here) them in (this appears unlikely). What is the old saying, Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely? So we have to wait until November to try and fix this situation. In the meantime the voters in Windsor can keep voting NO on the referenda to send the message that we do not want dysfunctional BOE oversight. Or we could get back a functional BOE. Since September 12, 2012, this possibility grow less likely each day.
R Eleveld May 20, 2013 at 10:18 am
@Michele, you are correct. The TC can only provide the BoE an amount of money, it can not in anywayRead More tell the BoE what to do with that money. It could make suggestions, however they carry the same weight as any citizen making any suggestion to the BoE. State law has created the BoE as an island unto itself. They do not even think they are subject to the Town Ethics Code. The voters do have the power to change what they do not like in November. The question is will they again repeat the prior behavior and vote in those that will not make change. Remember Einstein's definition of insanity. It applies here.
R Eleveld May 20, 2013 at 10:22 am
They did a good job of investigation along with Ms. Fissel. in the article: Some investigationRead More yields more questions. I ask some questions about the timing of this whole situation. It is now become an embarrassment to Windsor, Loyola, and Dr. James. The idea of this research/study is important, however this execution is fraught with problems and serious concerns. http://windsor.patch.com/groups/r-elevelds-blog/p/some-investigation-yields-more-questions