Military mom home on leave from Iraq

Mary Lynch (front right), a mother of three, is pictured with members of the Arizona Army National Guard 860th Military Police in Iraq. She is home on leave. [Courtesy Photo]

By Pamela G. Dempsey
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Mary Lynch surveyed her family stretched around a long table at the Navajo Nation Inn Friday morning.

Her children, Kristen, 11, Ashley, 8, and Saul, 2, sat close by Lynch and her fianc, Marty Pina, as everyone ordered breakfast.

"It is a 24-hour job," Lynch said of her service in Iraq. "There are days when you're awakened in odd hours of the night."

Lynch, of the Towering House Clan, born for the One-walks-around Clan, is staff sergeant of the Arizona Army National Guard 860th Military Police and deployed to Iraq last November. She's set to stay there until March.

This short visit home was unexpected, like most everything else she does with her squad.

Keeping a routine, she said, is dangerous.

"If you keep a routine, it's easier (for insurgents) to gather information," Lynch said.

Although Lynch can't discuss her job "operation security" she does talk about the conditions in Iraq.

While most people consider the Navajo Nation to mirror Third-World countries, she said, the conditions in Iraq are much worse.

"In Iraq, I see Mother Nature there in a different way," Lynch said. "It smells over there."

Temperatures top 115 degrees. Sheep graze in trash. Cattle are slaughtered on the road. Fuel is sold in containers by the road.

"Little kids are on gas tanks," Lynch said. "I see 2-year olds walking alone, walking around in trash.

"I'm so grateful that's not them," she said, looking at her own children.

With U.S. military efforts in Iraq, Lynch said all children are able to go to school and women are allowed to pursue careers.

"They're still working on getting it together," Lynch said. "I think having the military there has brought out a lot for their society."

Lynch has spent the past 17 years in the military; Pina has spent 15 years. They take turns caring for their children while the other is deployed.

Their schedules are the reason "why we've been engaged so long," Pina joked.

"Yeah, nobody wants war," Lynch said. "But the thing is, who's there fighting?"

Lynch said she wanted to do something for her country, like others in her family.

"She's really strong," said her sister, Edith Bennett. "I'm not strong like she is."

— To contact reporter Pam Dempsey call (505) 879-1707 or email pamelagdempsey@msn.com