With the holiday season upon us, Clarkston residents Terry and Muriel Shelswell want to remind everyone to remember those who are serving this country.
The Shelswells’ 21-year-old son, Michael, has been stationed in Saddam Hussein’s birthplace, Tikrit, Iraq, at the American Forward Operating Base Omaha since March.
“I’m having a hard time dealing with the fact he’ll be there for Christmas. Not just him, but all of them,” Muriel said. “I want them all to come home. I want them all to be safe.”
To bring some Christmas cheer to her son and fellow soldiers, Muriel gathered her friends and neighbors for a stocking stuffing and gift wrapping party in November.
Muriel always keeps a care package on her dining room table which she consistently fills with goodies for her son.
“Once every two weeks a box is on its way,” she said.
Muriel most recently sent a three-foot Christmas tree, complete with decorations, which Michael was delighted to receive.
The tree will go in the commons area of the base for the soldiers to enjoy for Christmas.
But Michael had a request for his mother. He wanted stockings, with names written on them for each soldier in his unit.
Of course, Muriel said, “I can’t just send empty stockings. It was an impulse. I thought I’d ask my friends and neighbors if they’d help me fill stockings. And it went over really well. We had so much stuff that it all wouldn’t go in the stockings. We had to wrap up some as gifts.”
From magazines to hand-held video games to tooth brushes, hot chocolate and more, a total of 10 boxes were sent; one box for every soldier.
“All they want is something from home. The best thing is getting a letter from home or a package,” Muriel said. “When he first left, I was sending a lot of baby wipes and deodorant and bug spray and sunscreen and all those kinds of things. Now it’s more any little bits of home he can get.”
Those little bits of home include chocolate chip cookies, baked with mom’s love, which Michael said the soldiers downed in a day.
“I worry about the soldiers in that some of them will receive nothing. My heart just goes out to them. They’re over there in a dangerous situation and it’s like nobody cares,” Muriel said. “For awhile I had thought maybe we had forgotten about all these boys. But it’s amazing how many people want to do something for them. It’s so heartwarming. There’s a lot of generous people out there. There’s not one person we know who doesn’t say, ‘How’s Michael?’ on a daily basis.”
Terry and Muriel are thankful for their friends, family, neighbors and co-workers who have been supportive of Michael during this time.
It has been a time of worry. Often the mood in the house is somber or tense.
“It’s something that’s in my mind all the time. Whether I’m at work, driving, or at home; it’s always there,” Terry said.
“On the news, the first thing you listen for is to where,” Muriel said. “Was it Tikrit? Was it Baghdad? You get a sigh when you hear it wasn’t in Tikrit.”
A specialist and Army engineer for the 299th engineer’s brigade, Michael’s duties include disposing of enemy missiles on nightly raids.
“When they go out on raids they don’t know if they’re coming back. They’re going into harm’s way,” Muriel said. “I just have to keep thinking he’s going to be okay.”
The Shelswells, who also have a 16-year-old son Ben, haven’t seen Michael for nearly a year, but hear from him now more frequently than when he first left, about once every two weeks.
“It’s just a relief when you hear from him.”
Sometimes it’s just a quick message on the email like, “I love you, Mom.” Other times, they get to hear his voice over the phone.
But most importantly, hearing from Michael, Muriel said means, “You know he’s all right.”
The 2001 Clarkston High School graduate entered the U.S. Army Engineer Corps right out of high school and completed basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. He is assigned to Fort Hood, Texas, and he and wife, Amy, his high school sweetheart, live off-post in Killeen.
Muriel remembers the day Michael enlisted.
“He and Amy went to the recruiting office when he was a senior. We told him go and listen to them and see what they have to say and we’ll discuss it. Well he went and listened to them and enlisted immediately. The next day he went for his physical and aptitude test. He enlisted for six years.”
Now he might make the Army a lifetime career. “He’s very happy with what he is doing.”
Michael has orders to stay in Tikrit until April. And the Shelswells will continue to send their love and “little bits of home” Michael’s way.
“I joke I fully expect to get a bill from the Department of Defense for jet fuel for all the cargo we’ve sent over there,” Terry said.
“We send so many boxes and we will keep them going,” Muriel said.
Most of all, Michael and all of the soldiers will be in the Shelswells prayers.
“You can’t say enough prayers for them,” Muriel said. “We’re just looking forward to all of them coming home.”
“I manage an auto plant in Canada,” Terry said. (The Shelswells are Canadian citizens.) “Sometimes we have disagreements and sometimes it gets tough. But in the end, I remember our young soldiers are in a tougher situation. I remember what they are doing and where they are. These are tough times. That’s our young men.”