Waiting for returning Guardsman a labor of love

By 1st Sgt. Vaughn R. Larson
Wisconsin National Guard

(1/14/10) -- The pain Johana Ortiz experienced waiting for her husband, Spc. Melvin Ortiz of the Wisconsin Army National Guard's 1158th Transportation Company, to return from his year-long deployment to Iraq was more than just longing.

Johana, who was due to deliver a baby Jan. 17, went into labor hours before her husband was to arrive here at Volk Field, a Wisconsin Air National Guard facility roughly 20 miles east of Fort McCoy.

But the contractions did not keep Johana from making the trip from Milwaukee. "My doctor said 'don't go,'" the mother of three admitted.

When the plane carrying about 300 Soldiers, who deployed to Iraq with the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, landed at about 4 p.m., Jan.13, Brigade Commander Col. Steven Bensend and Brigade Command Sgt. Major Ed Hansen boarded and called Spc. Ortiz to the front. They informed him of his wife's condition and directed him to leave the plane first.

Ortiz bounded down the staircase to the pavement, handed his backpack to another Soldier and sprinted to the hangar, where his wife was waiting. The families at the edge of the airstrip, many of whom were aware of Johana's condition, applauded appreciatively.

Once inside, Ortiz embraced his wife. "I'm excited," he said moments later. "I just want to go to the hospital."

Earlier, Bensend had promised Johana that her husband would be granted a pass so that he could be with her for the birth of their child.

"This is a great thing," Bensend said. "There's no way I would have missed my child's birth."

True to his word, paperwork was waiting for Spc. Ortiz to sign that allowed him to leave with his wife minutes after arriving at Volk Field. They made it safely to West Allis Memorial Hospital, where Johana gave birth to a 7 lb., 8 oz., baby boy the couple named Eduardo.

Capt. Joshua Porter, commander of the 1158th Transportation Company, based in Beloit and Black River Falls, said that Ortiz would return to complete his demobilization process after his pass expired.

Ortiz was among about 500 Wisconsin National Guard Soldiers to return from Iraq on two separate flights Wednesday, part of the 3,200 Soldiers who deployed with the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team that will return in stages throughout January.