Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 4, 1991 TAG: 9103040231
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B5 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"We were looking for a place to buy before he left," said Eva Sanchez, whose husband, Johnny, is in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. "I sent him pictures of quite a few houses and finally I found one I really liked. He told me, `However you feel about it. Go ahead."'
With guidance from her husband, a transportation sergeant based at Fort Eustis in Newport News, Sanchez closed on the house and moved in a few days ago.
Now that the war is ending, she hopes her husband will come back soon to the first real home in their 11 years on the Peninsula.
"This is a house house," she said proudly. "It has a back yard, a garage, everything he'll need."
Elsewhere in Virginia, families say their fears have eased.
Elaine Boschulte, who had received a last-minute telephone call before the ground war began, still felt the need to attend her support group Friday night.
"We were carrying on like little kids," said Boschulte of Dale City. "We always cry, but this time we were crying because we're so happy."
Boschulte's only son, Miguel, 19, is an Army missile launch specialist. He apparently has been unable to contact her since a 4 a.m. phone call on Feb. 21.
Now every time the phone rings, she jumps. She has already learned from relatives of his friends in the war zone that Miguel is safe. Now she wants to hear him say so.
"My husband kept saying, `You have to remember, there's not a phone booth on every corner over there," Boschulte said. "All through this, I kept telling myself that if anything happened to him, I couldn't hold any malice in my heart because Saddam Hussein was totally nuts, and somebody had to go in and help these people.
"But my son is only 19 and his life hasn't even begun."
In Hampton, Connie McBroom is waiting for her husband, Col. John McBroom, commander of the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing. He has been in the gulf since August.
"I saved some Christmas presents," she said. "They're right there in the living room."
Community support from yellow ribbons to school rallies has made the waiting easier, McBroom said.
"I think we've been enveloped by a sense of patriotism," she said. "I have a tremendous sense of pride I just can't describe. Maybe I'll just wear a red, white and blue pin for the rest of my life."
by CNB