From Albany to Iraq and back

GI KateKate Hoit, a UAlbany student and Iraq veteran, writes about her time in the Army this week in the Albany Student Press:

In the summer of 2004, I got a phone call while waiting tables at the Fountain Restaurant on New Scotland Ave. It was a sergeant from my unit in Schenectady telling me I was being deployed.
I hung up the phone and stood there for a minute. I should've known this was coming.
I picked up the phone and called my parents.
"Hi Mom," I said.
"Katie, your sergeant just called here," my mom said.
"I know, I just talked to him," I said "I'm being deployed to Iraq."
There was an awkward moment of silence. There was nothing she could've said that would've made me feel better. I was a soldier. This shouldn't have fazed me -- but it did.
"You've got to be kidding me," she said through her tears.
"I wish mom. I gotta get back to work."
"Okay, I love you."
I hung up the phone and walked outside. My eyes started to fill with tears as I wondered if I was going to be killed over there.
I remembered the couple that had just come into the restaurant. I walked back in and took their order.

Here's part two of the piece.

Kate also writes a blog: My American-Iraq Life.

photo: Patrick Dodson / ASP

Comments

Wow, intense story, but really interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for sharing this, and thank you Kate for your service!

I know Kate a little, but had no idea what she'd been through or what a powerful writer she was. Thanks for posting this!

Very Powerful, Great Piece.

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