WAILUKU -- Lisa Parker, the mother of a soldier ordered to war duty, has stayed away from programs designed to provide community support to relatives of deployed soldiers.
But Parker changed her mind Saturday and showed up with about 200 other family members of deployed soldiers in Iraq for the Volunteer Center of Maui County’s family support party. She found she could relax with other families that are missing loved ones. The celebration was the center’s effort to carry out its theme of the day: „Honoring Our Troops, Supporting Their Ohana.“ Parker said it’s been especially difficult for her family these past 18 months with a divorce, the death of one of her daughters, and now the deployment of her only son, Cpl. Joshua Rodarte of the Hawaii Army National Guard. Rodarte’s sister, Harmony Borden, has been active with the National Guard’s Family Readiness Group, and her two children, „We’re all real close,“ Borden said. „It’s been hard on all of us.“ Borden said the family was taken aback when it learned about the activation of the 2,000 members of Hawaii’s Army National Guard. There are about 80 men and women from Maui in the group. „It’s kind of a shock for us because they were the ones taking care of our community and now they’re gone,“ Borden said. „This whole thing is really hard,“ Parker said. She said she has tried to deal with her fears in private. She said she has found comfort in purchasing prayer cards for her son. Being at Saturday’s party with Rodarte’s sisters and her grandchildren was a bonus. Adding to the positive feelings for the day, her son in training at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, called her cell phone while Parker was attending the families event. „Hey, handsome,“ Parker said to her son. „We all love you.“ Saturday’s party featured local entertainment; food like hot dogs, Spam musubi and shave ice; free massages for the wives; and activities for the children such as balloon creations by clowns, The Volunteer Center’s Diana McKeague said her office usually marks the month of October by recognizing individuals who have served their community well. This year, McKeague looked to supporting the families of the Maui soldiers deployed to Iraq. Saturday’s party included relatives of soldiers in the 411th Engineer Battalion (Combat Heavy) and the Hawaii Army National Guard. Maui Guardsmen are in Texas training for military service and are expected to head to Iraq early next year. The 411th, an Army Reserve unit activated last November, has been in Iraq since late March. „Actually, this is very nice,“ Parker said about Saturday’s celebration. She said she was grateful for the efforts by the Volunteer Center of Maui County. Families of the 411th members and the Guardsmen all expressed appreciation for the ohana party. „This is the first time we got to show up, sit down and relax,“ said Virginia Brown of the 411th’s Family Readiness Group. „This is a treat and a half.“ Brown has been involved in group activities such as the one held Saturday, but usually she’s been heavily involved in coordinating and setting up, and even doing Saturday was a chance for her to simply enjoy the opportunity to be with other wives, kicking back and enjoying falsetto singer Kamaka Fernandez, bagpiper James Brent and Hawaiian music performers Kupono Eleven-year-old „I clean dishes and the bathroom. That’s what dad does,“ RJ Asuncion said. On Saturday, RJ played alongside his McKeague said that in planning Saturday’s event, she heard from many of the wives about the challenges of serving as single parents and coping without their loved ones. „We really don’t understand what they’re all going through. There’s a lot of stories that can’t be told, but we do appreciate their sacrifice,“ she said. The Volunteer Center’s estimated price tag for the ohana party was $8,000. Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.