Supporting Our Heroes:
Families Of Soldiers In Iraq
Find Support At Fort Totten Gathering

By Aaron Rutkoff

There was no trace of military decorum inside the large cafeteria of Building 200 at Fort Totten in Bayside on March 31, and that was just what those gathered there for an early Easter celebration there needed most.

Family members of reserve soldiers from the 773rd Transportation Company—based in Fort Totten, but currently on duty in Iraq—came to support each other and find relief from the anxieties shared by all those left at home during wartime.

Damiris Yu has not seen her husband, Staff Sgt. David Yu, since he was called into duty in November.  “They gave him orders for 365 with the stipulation that it could extend up to two years,” Yu explained. 

While not mentioned by name, the efforts of the 773rd are often discussed in news reports from Iraq.  “You know when they are talking about the supply line and the fuel, that’s them,” said Vaneysha Darr. Her husband, Sgt. Raymond Darr, drives trucks in the supply line.

Like most of the families of the 773rd, Darr last spoke to her husband on the night before the onset of the war.  “He didn’t say much, all he said was that everything was going to be started and he loves me very much,” Darr explained.  She added, “We won’t be able to hear from him until probably everything is over with or calms down.”

Virmari Torres is luckier than most. 

Her mother, the personnel sergeant for the company, was sent back to Kuwait soon after the conflict began, so they are able to speak occasionally. 

When the war started, however, Torres faced the prospect of going months without hearing her mother’s voice.  “I was crying and she said, ‘The only thing I can tell you is that there are a lot of experienced people here and we’re all going to be okay, they know what they are doing.’  And that was the last thing she had told me,” Torres recalled.

The children of the 773rd had the run of the Fort during the Easter party, and they received awards from Sgt. Walter Banister and Capt. Anthony Sheppard in recognition of their role in supporting their soldier-parents. 

As Capt. Sheppard explained, “Children are very silent, and they don’t express themselves concerning how they miss their loved one.”  He added, “These events help them pull out and show emotion and energy, and say that they are not alone in this effort.”

It is especially difficult for spouses to balance their deep desire to know about their loved ones in the war with a need to limit the amount of time spent watching the news.  Also, parents face the difficulty of shielding their children from the 24-hour news coverage.

“I don’t watch it constantly, I watch it twice a day—in the morning and in the evening—because I could sit there and watch the news all day and it’s the same thing,” said Yu. 

But when it comes to her children, Yu does not expose them to coverage.  “It’s important for them to know what’s going on, but only to a certain extent,” Yu explained.

The potential impact of this war on the children of the company caused April Perez to organize the Easter party.  “What happens in this war will make their personalities for the rest of their life and how they look at the world.  They way we handle it and treat our children and educate them…is the way tomorrow will be formed,” Perez explained.  She coordinates family support for the entire company, including the party, and also publishes a newsletter for the families.

According to Col. Ann Freed, family groups provide a much needed support for the families of reservists, who lack the built-in community structures of the regular army.  Freed said, “These people have to work at being connected and networking because they live all in different towns.”  Col. Freed praised the efforts of Perez and organizations like Operation Heartland, who financed the Easter party.

Col. Freed explained that the army provides several resources to the families of reservists, but that group support is largely organized independently.

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Profiles In Courage
A Fresh Meadows ‘Kid’ Fighting Overseas

By Angela Montefinise

Fresh Meadows resident Jamie Rivera believes the best thing his son Nicholas ever did was join the Army.

“It straightened him out,” Jamie told the Tribune. “He really got his life together. He married his high school sweetheart, Janelle, and he had his first child, his son Christian Antonio.”

Still, not a day goes by that Jamie doesn’t wish his son was home, and not overseas fighting the war against Iraq. “I haven’t spoken to him since he shipped out in January,” Jamie said. “He’s in the Third Infantry, and who knows when he would be able to call or write . . . I wear his [uniform] shirt every day, I wear his dog tags. My son’s a hero, but I want him home.”

Rivera was born at New York Hospital Queens in Flushing, and spent most of his childhood in Arizona with his mother. He did attend Parsons Junior High School in Flushing, however, and spent plenty of time at Jamie’s house in Fresh Meadows.

The 22-year-old fan of hip hop and the Yankees currently lives in Georgia with his wife Janelle, who is also 22 and “perfect for him,” Jamie said. The two had their first child on Dec. 28, 2002. Rivera shipped out for Kuwait on Jan. 9. 

Jamie said, “My son had been in Kuwait for six months previously. He had been in Afghanistan and in Pakistan, too. He came home and then he had to go back out . . . He was supposed to ship out on Jan. 15, but they moved it up a few days . . . He is a brave boy. I’m proud of him, but I’m scared, too.”

A huge flag now hangs in the second floor window of the Rivera home in Fresh Meadows, while yellow ribbons adorn every tree on the family’s block. A sign that Jamie made honoring his son will soon be placed outside, and Jamie’s wife Laura, who called Rivera “a wonderful kid,” said the school where she works – P.S. 26 in Flushing – has yellow ribbons all over the halls.

She said, “We had the kids write letters and cards to him, and my husband made a sign that says ‘support our troops’ for the hallway. I think it’s important that the kids understand how important it is to support the kids fighting over there.”

Laura also asked that residents of Queens keep Rivera in their prayers. She said, “Prayers for Nicholas. Prayers that he comes home to his son and his wife and to his family. That’s what he needs now.”

Flushing Family Awaits Their Hero’s Return

By Angela Montefinise

There is only one way to describe the relationship that Flushing native Donna Quintana and her husband Marine Lance Corporal Pedro Quintana have – it’s a fairy tale.

The two met in upstate New York when they were enrolled in the Challenge Program, a military-based educational program geared towards getting students their GEDs. The two became fast friends, and Donna told the Tribune, “Everybody kept telling me, ‘You’re in love with him, you’re in love with him.’ I said, ‘No, no I’m not.’ They knew better than me.”

When Pedro asked Donna to the Marine Corps Ball in Las Vegas, she said yes, and said, “When I got off the plane and saw him, I knew that I was going to marry him. I stayed something like five extra days to be with him, and I knew I would be his wife.”

The two were married in December of 2001, only three months after they went to the ball together. Donna said, “I knew he was being shipped to Okinawa in January, and I couldn’t let him leave without knowing that I was his wife.”

Pedro left in January for Japan, returned after several months, and now is gone again, overseas fighting the war in Iraq. He did return for a few months, and the couple is expecting its first child in June – a girl to be named Gia Anise.

Although the Quintanas – who are both 21 – currently live in California, where Pedro is stationed, Donna is staying with her family in Flushing until the baby is born. She said, “My father is an ex-Marine. I’ve never heard him say that he wants someone out of the Marines, but he keeps saying he just wants him out of there and safe.”

Donna said she’s “a very lucky girl” because Pedro has already called her three times – he was able to “harass” a reporter into letting him borrow his cell phone. She said, “He called me, and he seems to be in good spirits. He said he’s going to do whatever it takes to get home. He said he’s fine, and he said, ‘I’m not worried. I don’t know why you’re worried.’”

She said Pedro loves music and loves football, but most of all loves to rent Blockbuster movies and relax at home with his wife. She said, “We’re at the point in our relationship where if we’re together, we don’t care what we’re doing. We like to stay in and be together.”

Donna’s sister Jennifer Hendershot said the couple is “perfect for each other,” and said,  “You want to hear amazing? They share the same birthday. They were both born on Oct. 20, 1981.”

Donna laughed and said, “When he told me that, I didn’t believe him. I made him show his ID.”

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