Yuma couple spends first year of marriage apart

To Staff Sgt. Joseph Woods, home truly is where the heart is. And luckily for his wife, Leslie, his heart has touched down once again in Yuma just in time to celebrate their wedding anniversary Monday.

On this day in 2007, the couple stood before 300 friends and family and vowed their love, for better or worse, through sickness and in health, and that they would remain true to each other. But soon after the vows were spoken, Joe was on a plane heading east by military order.

Joseph has spent the majority of his first year of marriage stationed with the Army in Iraq. Home from deployment for the past 16 days has given the couple a chance to reconnect during the "rest and relaxation" break of his 15-month deployment.

Taking a break from the high-pressure situation in Iraq that the staff sergeant has grown accustomed to, the couple have spent their brief time together in a cabin at Martinez Lake.

"We wanted some time alone together," said Leslie, a 1998 Yuma High School graduate. "It's difficult to be away from him, and it's filled with a lot of not knowing what can happen next.

"It's wonderful to be married to the man I love and am in love with, but questions are always there, since it's the military. But, I love him so, it's been great ... just to be his wife."

Much of the past year has been spent writing letters, sending care packages filled with Joe's favorite goodies of sweet candies and newspapers, and 20-minute phone calls. But while Joe is away, the couple try to keep the physical distance between them out of their minds and instead focus on nurturing the connection they feel they have mentally.

"He's my best friend and he says I'm his 'best everything friend,' so we keep close by staying true to what brought us together: our friendship," Leslie said.

"The hardest part is not only worrying about him constantly, but you never know what's going on over there. And the stories you hear are always about the bad things and never the good things, so it's hard," she said.

"The hardest part for me is knowing what is going on and having to keep secrets from my wife," Joe said. "We get communication blackouts in Iraq. Bad sandstorms leave you without the ability to make a phone call when you need to hear her voice. Sometimes it's frustrating when the phone just hangs up on you and you didn't say goodbye."

Joe, who has a little more than a year left in the service, said he is looking forward to coming home for good and spending his days playing catch with his wife, a favorite pastime of the couple, and drinking some beers.

"We can't drink beer in Iraq, so that's been something we've been doing on break," Joe said. "And we've probably worn footprints into the grass from standing there playing catch for so long!

"It's difficult to be away from my wife, but I enjoy what I do in the service. When I am away, knowing I have someone reliable and dependable at home helping me out, knowing that's what I have to come home to, is great."

Joe comes from a long line of military men with his father, grandfather, great-grandfather and numerous uncles having served in past wars. "For me, it wasn't a matter of if I would enlist, but when," he said.

After originally serving four years with the Marine Corps and two deployments to Iraq - one before Sept. 11, 2001, and the other during the invasion of Iraq - Joe was anticipating when his length of enlistment would end and allow him more freedom to travel.

But years passed and Joe felt the military could still use him. "I enlisted into the Army, just about three years ago. There was still business to take care of over there, and I wanted to help."

Now he serves as a forward observer for the U.S. Army.

Leslie wrote in a recent letter to Joe: "I am so proud of all that you are doing and the sacrifices you have made. I anxiously await your safe return from Iraq and the moment your arms are wrapped around me once again."

As they sat gazing into each other's eyes, sharing a joke between them, arms interlocked, it was evident that for that moment their world stood still, absorbing the time that they share and dreaming of the days to come.

"We're so lucky if you think about it," Leslie finally said. "Couples in previous wars, like Vietnam and World War I and II, never could communicate like we can now.

"Women never heard from their husbands while on deployment. So I appreciate every phone call from him. I feel very lucky."

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Stefani Guerrero Soucy can be reached at ssoucy@yumasun.com or 539-6857.