WREX.com – Rockford’s News LeaderMilitary father captures the moments as soldiers prepare to deploy

Military father captures the moments as soldiers prepare to deploy

By Samantha Ptashkin

ROCKFORD (WREX)- Fear, excitement, and anxiety. Those are just some of the emotions running through local soldiers' minds on their last day at home.

About 80 from the 485th Engineering Company received a lot of praise from family and friends at a special send-off ceremony at Heartland Church, and what better way to remember it all than with a picture.

Photographer Kevin Harvey has been taking pictures for more than three decades. "It's all people, its interacting with people, having a good time.  It's talking with them, learning what's new in their lives," Harvey said.

There's something special about his gig at the send-off ceremony. Harvey's taking pictures of his 26-year-old son. "My son Brian is just easy to photograph, so it's just like another day taking pictures," Harvey said.

But it's not just another day.

Like the military spouses, brothers, sisters, and children in the photographs he takes, this is the last time Harvey and his family will see their son for 400 days. "Today is definitely a difficult day," said Becky Harvey, Brian's Mother. 

Squad Leader Brian Harvey and his fellow soldiers are heading over to Iraq. "I think we're very prepared. We've been through a lot of training and we're extremely prepared for this," Brian said.

For the families there's a lot of pride, but also much to miss. "Just being able to pick up the phone and say 'Hi, I love you, and how are you doing'," Becky said.

But as the soldiers prepare to leave, they've all got their ways of remembering home. "Pictures definitely help out, you can take them and look at them whenever you want," Brian said.

While the photos might say a thousand words, in the end it's just two Brian's family can't wait to hear: "I'm home."

"It's actually 400 days from tomorrow, so I'm counting the days," Becky said.

While in Iraq, the troops will work on infrastructure projects.