Local troops brace for life away from home

A row of quaint little houses lines both sides of Moss Drive in Houma. In one, rays of sunlight peer through a set of blinds just inside the dining room where a soldier and his mother sit, reflecting on the days ahead.

Thirty-year-old Nick Landry, a member of the Houma National Guard’s Charlie Company, was raised in this house. But in the upcoming months, what he calls home will look and feel quite different.

Charlie Company is being deployed to Iraq later this week, shadowing a deployment in 2004 where six members of the company also known as “Black Sheep” were killed.

Among the flag-draped coffins were Staff Sgt. Chris Babin, 27, of Houma; Sgt. Bradley Bergeron, 25, of Chauvin; Sgt. Warren Murphy, 29, of Marrero; Sgt. Huey Fassbender, 24, of LaPlace; Sgt. 1st Class Kurt Comeaux, 34, of Raceland; and Sgt. Armand “Luke” Frickey, 21, of Houma.

While some members of the unit are seeing Iraq for the first time, these are somewhat familiar grounds for Landry. His patriotism stems back to early childhood, where he can be seen in numerous household photographs dressed in traditional military garb.

Anne Hymel, Landry’s mother, says both his father and grandfather were also in the military. In turn, Landry learned the ins and outs of military service at a young age.

His grandfather, Lawrence Landry, served in the Navy during World War II as a boatman’s mate while his father, David Landry, served in the U.S. Army in Korea during the Vietnam conflict.

“I don’t want to say it was always a dream, but it was always something I planned on doing,” recalls Landry.

Aside from his aspirations to join the military, during his years at Vandebilt Catholic High School, he could be found on the football field or participating in track and field sports like shot put and javelin.

Landry was also part of the Sons of the American Legion.

The call to serve, early

In 1997, Landry joined the National Guard at the age of 17. Because he was a minor, it required his mother’s signature.

“I guess I kind of expected it, but it was scary at that age,” says Hymel.

Landry completed basic training the summer of his junior year in high school. After returning, he earned his high school diploma and continued training, serving two and a half years before cross transferring to the Navy’s civil engineer corps, or CECs.

During a six-and-a-half-year period in the Navy, Landry was deployed overseas four times: to Spain, Diego Garcia and Guam, Kuwait and Iraq, and Korea.

When the U.S. invaded Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Landry was helping run supply convoys into the region, somewhat removed from the hostile frontlines that he might soon be facing.

After his tour in Kuwait and Iraq, he was deployed for a last time to Korea.

Shortly after returning from Korea, the young soldier was based at a naval air station in Brunswick, Maine. But Landry’s life was turned upside down after hearing about his father’s diagnosis – cancer – a year and a half later.

Dismally, the illness claimed his father’s life, ending Landry’s military career for a short period.

Landry received a hardship discharge from the Navy and moved back to Houma where he picked up shifts at Conrad shipyard in Amelia.

Nearly two years had passed when the patriot decided to rejoin the National Guard as an infantryman in January 2009. “After my dad died, I kind of started missing it. So I decided to get back into the reserves,” he says.

“A lot of the guys that are in the unit now were in the unit before. I pretty much knew them and they knew me.”

Months later, the company found out about their assignment to Iraq.

News delivered easy

In light of the struggles Landry has had to overcome, he knew that deployment was a lingering provision to reenlisting.

But that didn’t stop him from making one of the most influential decisions of his life. “If anything, that made my choice easier,” says Landry.

“I wasn’t surprised,” he comments. “They told me when I enlisted there was a very real possibility that my company would be deploying soon.

“Some of these guys are practically family. And I’m the type of person that doesn’t like my family getting in the mix without me around,” he touts.

“I was actually working in the shipyards when I was activated for special duty to get the unit prepared to deploy,” adds Landry. “I’ve been on active duty now for about five months.”

Nearly four days of every week is spent at the National Guard Armory where Landry completes training exercises and an array of other clerical-type duties.

“This is my job,” he says. “This is what I do.”

Preparing for war

And while the physical challenges have been passed over and completed time and time again, the mental hurdles have amassed. For Landry and his mother, deployment is beginning to look a little different this time.

“It’s a little more difficult,” says Hymel. “The first time I was nervous and scared,” but this time, the ways of war are increasingly vivid.

Hymel’s youngest daughter knew Sgt. Frickey, who was killed in the Black Sheep incident in ’04.

“That really brings it close to home,” she adds. “When you start hearing about your local boys, the ones you really care about. Even though you care about all the boys, that’s when it really hits you.”

And with such a stark and evident reality, both say they try not to think about the grim possibilities.

“The only thing I think is, ‘This is what my son wants to do and I have to support him, no matter what my personal feelings are’,” comments Landry’s mother. “But it’s just a scary thing.”

Tucked between sleepless nights, Landry often reflects on his ability to make the right decision under pressure. “There are a lot of guys that are going to be depending on me. Once we get out there, it’s going to be just us. We gotta’ look out for each other and that’s the way it’s always been,” he says.

“We have to watch each others backs. When you get over there, you’re not just fighting for the country, your family. You’re fighting for the guys next to you.

“You’ve gotta’ make the right decision. Not just for yourself, but for him.”

Landry says that second-guessing is not an option. His mental foundation is simple: focus on what has to be done, do it, and return home safely.

Hymel feels confident that her son will be able to make the right decision when the time comes.

Happy holidays, good tidings

Amidst Landry’s preparations, however, are good times – like spending Christmas and the New Year with family.

This year, the family tried to provide Landry with a Christmas to remember.

“I’m glad that I got to have Christmas with my family,” says Landry. “I’m thankful for that, because last time I was deployed I was [gone] for Christmas and Thanksgiving. It wasn’t easy on [my family], knowing that I wasn’t there and it would be a little while before I came back.”

Acknowledging the scenario will probably play out the same way next year, Landry says the holidays have also been hard. “More than likely I’m not going to be here next Christmas, so [this year] it was a little rough. But its part of the job, it comes with the territory.

“We’re doing this because we love our country,” he says. For Landry, wearing the uniform comes with little sacrifice, but rather, a commitment he is willing to stick with.

“I have three nieces and a nephew. I’m [serving] so that they can grow up and make their own decisions in life,” adds the soldier. “I don’t have any children of my own, but I want them to grow up in a place where they don’t have to ask permission to do what they want to do.

“And I’m going back over there because the job is not finished,” states Landry. “I don’t like leaving unfinished business.”

War begins, soldier

According to Houma’s National Guard, Charlie Company will be leaving Thursday for a 400-day deployment.

With anticipation, Landry says he is not sure where the company will be stationed. “We won’t find out much of anything until we get over there.”

But this time, the trip is probably going to get a bit bumpy. And as an infantryman, Landry’s job could involve live fire combat.

His new home will exclude the everyday things we take for granted – especially family. And for Hymel, her temporary life will exclude her son.

“It’s going to be hard for me, but I have to let him be his own person,” she says, holding back a flood of emotion. “This is what he wants to do.”

With a newborn granddaughter and the death of her father in ’08, Hymel has experienced her share of highs and lows.

To remain strong, she will be looking to faith in the days to come. “I’ll just pray a lot.”

And with that, a cool breeze surrounds what was once Landry’s home. The sun prepares for its descent, as shadows are cast over the dining room table where Landry and his mother had been sitting.

The end of a chapter has arrived; a new one is about to begin.

Nick Landry, 30, a member of Houma-based National Guard’s Charlie Company, prepares for a long and narrow road. Landry’s company is being deployed this week for a 400-day tour in Iraq. Photo by MICHAEL DAVIS