When soldiers find out they may deploy to a war zone, leaving their affairs at home in order for themselves and their loved ones becomes top priority. Nearly 2400 citizen soldiers from the Minnesota National Guard's 34th Infantry Division Red Bulls will be shipped to Kuwait as part of the U.S. drawdown phase in Iraq. For one soldier from Dodge Center, the uncertainty of a deployment meant scrambling to plan his bride's dream wedding ... in less than a week.
Awarded:
2011 NBNA Eric Sevareid Award, award of merit in Soft Feature - Large Market Radio category
Transcripts
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ELIZABETH BAIER: In the basement of the Pleasant Corners Church, 26-year-old specialist Brian Wunderlich pulls his Class A service uniform from a garment bag. He's putting it on in the makeshift dressing room alongside one of his groomsmen.
STASH RUCINSKI: Need any help?
BRIAN WUNDERLICH: I should be good.
STASH RUCINSKI: That's long enough for you?
BRIAN WUNDERLICH: Yeah, we're good.
STASH RUCINSKI: All right.
BRIAN WUNDERLICH: Not bad.
ELIZABETH BAIER: In the room next door is his fiancée, 29-year-old Margarita Jacobson and her bridesmaids. A previous injury has left Wunderlich's deployment uncertain. But in case he goes, he knew the wedding would have to happen early. That's also because several of his friends, including some in the wedding party, are preparing to deploy too. So he moved the wedding from June to Saturday.
BRIAN WUNDERLICH: So it took a lot of head work to figure out, OK, who's going to be in the wedding, because everyone was going to be overseas. So I had different groomsmen and all that. And so, I brought the original people back to the wedding. And so, it all worked out.
ELIZABETH BAIER: Upstairs, Wunderlich and Jacobson kneel on the steps of the altar. Three groomsmen are dressed in their own crisp military uniforms. The bridesmaids wear long black satin dresses. About 35 friends and relatives fill the pews of this tiny congregation. Reverend Karen Seavey reads a prayer of blessing.
KAREN SEAVEY: We ask that you would bless them as a family. Be with Brian and others, as they deploy into Kuwait and other places, that they may be protected and safe. Give strength to all their family members who are-- be away from them so that they can endure during those difficult days. And give them all a sense of your blessing, Lord.
ELIZABETH BAIER: Around Minnesota, thousands of soldiers in the National Guard are preparing to leave home for at least a year. Many marry their sweethearts before heading overseas. It's an emotional decision, but also a practical one that offers insurance and a monthly combat allowance for the families left behind.
After the ceremony, Wunderlich explains he's still not 100% sure whether his medical clearance will let him deploy with his friends. He's deployed once before to Kosovo. And now, he wants to earn a combat patch from the army. But whether he deploys with the Red Bulls or not, one thing is certain. Wunderlich's daily life has shifted since serving overseas became a possibility again.
BRIAN WUNDERLICH: There's never enough time to get everything done. But the key thing is with being married, she's going to be able to-- I tell her to do something, she's going to be able to call the credit card company or call the bank and they'll be like, OK, yeah, we'll do that.
ELIZABETH BAIER: Jacobson knows becoming a military wife at a time of deployment is a hardship, particularly because she's already raising an eight-year-old son from a previous marriage. But it was something she felt compelled to do.
MAGARITA JACOBSON: I wanted him to know before he walked out that door that I'm committed to him. And going up to the VA and seeing how some of those guys are when they get back, it was hard. It was a really hard decision. But at the end of the day, I love him no matter what.
ELIZABETH BAIER: Outside the small white church, some of Wunderlich's buddies stand around the back of his truck, prop open a cooler, and drink some beers. They use a piece of rope to tie the empty cans to the getaway truck.
SPEAKER: Now we're good.
ELIZABETH BAIER: When he comes out of the church, Wunderlich says it's moments like this he'll think of when he's overseas and gets homesick.
BRIAN WUNDERLICH: Being married before going over. It's something you can always look back. So if I'm having a really [? pretty ?] day and I want to just be back home, all I have to do is turn my computer on and just go back over the memory.
ELIZABETH BAIER: Wunderlich says supporting each other at home is a big part of preparing for a deployment, and so is leaving everything in place for his new family. Elizabeth Baier. Minnesota Public Radio News, Dodge Center.