For the Express
GLOVERSVILLE — Daddy’s going to work.
For most children, that simple phrase means a separation of mere hours. But for Captain Shawn Tabankin’s 22-month-old daughter, it means good-bye for what may seem like a lifetime to a little girl.
Tabankin, who serves as the Company Commander of Charlie Company in the New York Army National Guard, is often away for training missions and other duties related to his National Guard service, and it’s the only way he and wife are able to explain his extended absences to his young daughter.
It’s a scenario hundreds of children throughout the Capital Region were having to come to grips with over the weekend.
Tabankin was one of 120 area fathers, sons, husbands and brothers who left for Camp Shelby in Mississippi on Monday for post-mobilization training, before deploying for a year-long mission in Kuwait come April.
Hundreds of their family and friends gathered at Gloversville High School on Sunday for a deployment ceremony honoring members of the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the New York National Guard’s Company C, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment.
The group is among 1,800 soldiers from throughout the state assigned to the Brigade Combat Team, which mobilized over the weekend for the brigade mission.
During Sunday’s ceremony, local leaders and guard commanders spoke of pride and patriotism, and expressed gratitude to the soldiers and their families for their service.
“It’s an honor to serve the country,” said Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Biehler, Battalion Commander of the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry. “We are going to accomplish the mission and bring all our soldiers home.”
The focus Sunday morning was as much on the families as it was on the soldiers themselves.
Colonel Raymond Shields, Chief of Staff at the NYARNG Headquarters, spoke of the guard’s Family Readiness Group, and its 270 various programs available to assist the loved one’s of those deployed.
“While your soldier is away, there is a vast network of support to assist you,” he said.
For Tabankin, of Bedford Hills, this 12-month deployment will be the first in which he is leaving behind a wife and children.
“My wife reminds me all the time that her year is going to be harder than mine,” he said during the ceremony.
After the services, Tabankin spoke of a particular deployment in which he was part of a group sending off other soldiers, and for the first time, was left behind with the families when the buses departed. He described the scenario as being more difficult than being on the bus himself.
“I know what they would go through for that five minutes,” he said, referring to the families being left behind. “I have so much respect for the work my wife’s gonna do.”
For Loren Webber, whose husband, Jason, is a physical education teacher at Gloversville High School and who was among those that left on Monday, Sunday’s scene was somewhat surreal.
“It’s not real yet,” she said. “You can imagine what it would be like, but I guess until you’re there, you won’t know it.”
Webber said her two young children have yet to grasp the enormity of the coming farewell.
“I don’t think they understand,” she said.
Beth Whitman, whose son, Jason, is being deployed for the third time, understands all too much.
Jason, who lives in Mayfield, and has already been to both Iraq and Afghanistan, is taking the upcoming departure in stride.
“I feel comfortable,” he said casually.
For his mother, however, the emotions ran deep.
“I’m full of pride in him,” said Beth. “He’s his own man and he’s always made his own choices.
“He’ll call me,” she added as she fought back the tears.
While the deployment ceremony is nothing new for the Whitmans, for a young couple on the other side of the gymnasium on Sunday, it was a dose of reality.
Eighteen-year-old Derek Devino, of Granville, and his wife, Maureen, have been married for less than a month.
“I was very nervous at first,” said Devino, who is fresh out of basic training and preparing for his first deployment. “I want to get back already.”
While she recognizes the difficulties the coming year will bring, Maureen is still counting her blessings.
“It’s gonna be hard,” she said. “But it could be worse — he could be going to Afghanistan.”
Among those in attendance on Sunday was Assemblyman Marc Butler (R-Newport), who thanked both the soldiers and their families for their service.
“Real heroes are found right here among us,” said Butler. He seemed to speak for all those in attendance when he said: “We look forward to the day when we welcome all of our troops back home.”