Name guide, because I don't want you going through the whole story pronouncing their names wrong in your head (and neither would they): Tena is pronounced as you would "Tina." Treva is pronounced "tree-vuh."
This is a recurring subject for our family. People even tend to pronounce "Laylah" wrong, somehow. And people call our dad "Richard Williams" instead of "William Richards" ALL the time.
Feature Story
This is a recurring subject for our family. People even tend to pronounce "Laylah" wrong, somehow. And people call our dad "Richard Williams" instead of "William Richards" ALL the time.
Feature Story
Bill Richards had first joined the military in order to pay for school.
It was, certainly, a very typical reason for joining, since the military pays up to 100% of college tuition while one is on active duty. After a lifetime of constantly moving from state to state, it had been time to settle down and go to college. The military had offered a simple-yet-not-so-simple way of paying for it, while finally getting to live in one place.
"I had come to terms with moving around so much a long time ago," Richards says. "It was kind of scary, at first. But it was kind of a relief."
Good things definitely came out of it. After quite a few years, he found himself working the same job as his future wife Tena Richards. Two years, they were married. And then, just a few years later, they had a daughter, Treva Richards.
It took a while for him to be deployed for the first time, but it hadn't taken too long for him to come back. The first deployment had been described as calm.
The second one came all too soon after.
"I was better prepared, maybe, than I was for the first time," daughter Treva said. "'Cause, you know, it's still hard. It's a big deal...emotionally."
Bill left soon after the news was delivered to him. His wife and two daughters stayed at home while he was deployed to Iraq for the second time. He arrived at an operating base just outside of a town called Tikrit in north-central Iraq.
Training took six months. The next year was spent actively working.
"It was all routine, business. We're all there to do a job; it's not like you're on vacation. We worked six days a week," Bill said.
On that one day off, all spare time was spent doing things that were both completely useless and beautiful. He went to the theatre to see movies, spent time in his room to watch as many episodes of NCIS he could make himself watch. His book of Sudoku was finished faster than he would've liked, but he wasted no time in buying another one...and another, and another.
On one night every other week, everyone serving would participate in a barbecue.
"Every other Wednesday night, we'd have a barbecue. You'd go to the PX and buy a steak, and you'd go to the barbecue and everybody would cook their steaks," Bill said.
Every night, he got to speak to his family over Skype.
"We just kind of talked about what we were doing--how the kids were changing, and what they were doing, too," Tena said. "It's also when you confirm those little questions that you need to know, such as...'Where did we put this?' or 'What did we use as the password for this file on the computer?' We could just catch up on the day."
He also continued to get closer to the people there, too. It's said that "being deployed makes you good friends" for a reason. Spending eighteen months with the same people does that. But, the whole time, getting home was a priority. There were many things to be missed back in Austin.
"I missed home-cooked food," Bill said. "Pot roast. The food there was all contractor meals. So, it was--it wasn't bad, but it wasn't home-cooked food."
Going back home, though, ended up being one of the hardest parts for both the people back home, and Bill himself.
"There was kind of an adjustment period," Bill said. "So in some cases, it was kind of scary."
Due to terrorist problems, they all flew home in civilian clothes. After a roughly fifteen-hour flight, they finally arrived back home at the Austin airport.
Tena and Treva hadn't been able to get past security, so they had to wait at downstairs near baggage claim. After waiting at baggage claim for what felt like forever, he finally showed up at the top of the stairs.
"We went to the airport and we made the signs...'Welcome home,'" Tena said. "We stopped at Denny's on the way home for a grilled-cheese sandwich and chocolate milk."
Tena and Treva had built a routine around themselves while they had waited for Bill to get home. The sudden arrival of Bill had been disorienting for the whole family. It didn't take long to get back into their old habits, though.
"It seemed like he...like they all fell right back into their regular routines fairly easily," family friend Jackie Smith said. "It was nice--I could tell they were all generally less agitated, worried...They went back to doing those little things they always did--Treva and Bill playfully arguing about something or other, things like that."
Treva and Bill most definitely continued to argue about the small things. Bill and his friends went back to having dinner with each other every week.
"You do what you have to do to get by, and you have friends that help," Tena said.
It was, certainly, a very typical reason for joining, since the military pays up to 100% of college tuition while one is on active duty. After a lifetime of constantly moving from state to state, it had been time to settle down and go to college. The military had offered a simple-yet-not-so-simple way of paying for it, while finally getting to live in one place.
"I had come to terms with moving around so much a long time ago," Richards says. "It was kind of scary, at first. But it was kind of a relief."
Good things definitely came out of it. After quite a few years, he found himself working the same job as his future wife Tena Richards. Two years, they were married. And then, just a few years later, they had a daughter, Treva Richards.
It took a while for him to be deployed for the first time, but it hadn't taken too long for him to come back. The first deployment had been described as calm.
The second one came all too soon after.
"I was better prepared, maybe, than I was for the first time," daughter Treva said. "'Cause, you know, it's still hard. It's a big deal...emotionally."
Bill left soon after the news was delivered to him. His wife and two daughters stayed at home while he was deployed to Iraq for the second time. He arrived at an operating base just outside of a town called Tikrit in north-central Iraq.
Training took six months. The next year was spent actively working.
"It was all routine, business. We're all there to do a job; it's not like you're on vacation. We worked six days a week," Bill said.
On that one day off, all spare time was spent doing things that were both completely useless and beautiful. He went to the theatre to see movies, spent time in his room to watch as many episodes of NCIS he could make himself watch. His book of Sudoku was finished faster than he would've liked, but he wasted no time in buying another one...and another, and another.
On one night every other week, everyone serving would participate in a barbecue.
"Every other Wednesday night, we'd have a barbecue. You'd go to the PX and buy a steak, and you'd go to the barbecue and everybody would cook their steaks," Bill said.
Every night, he got to speak to his family over Skype.
"We just kind of talked about what we were doing--how the kids were changing, and what they were doing, too," Tena said. "It's also when you confirm those little questions that you need to know, such as...'Where did we put this?' or 'What did we use as the password for this file on the computer?' We could just catch up on the day."
He also continued to get closer to the people there, too. It's said that "being deployed makes you good friends" for a reason. Spending eighteen months with the same people does that. But, the whole time, getting home was a priority. There were many things to be missed back in Austin.
"I missed home-cooked food," Bill said. "Pot roast. The food there was all contractor meals. So, it was--it wasn't bad, but it wasn't home-cooked food."
Going back home, though, ended up being one of the hardest parts for both the people back home, and Bill himself.
"There was kind of an adjustment period," Bill said. "So in some cases, it was kind of scary."
Due to terrorist problems, they all flew home in civilian clothes. After a roughly fifteen-hour flight, they finally arrived back home at the Austin airport.
Tena and Treva hadn't been able to get past security, so they had to wait at downstairs near baggage claim. After waiting at baggage claim for what felt like forever, he finally showed up at the top of the stairs.
"We went to the airport and we made the signs...'Welcome home,'" Tena said. "We stopped at Denny's on the way home for a grilled-cheese sandwich and chocolate milk."
Tena and Treva had built a routine around themselves while they had waited for Bill to get home. The sudden arrival of Bill had been disorienting for the whole family. It didn't take long to get back into their old habits, though.
"It seemed like he...like they all fell right back into their regular routines fairly easily," family friend Jackie Smith said. "It was nice--I could tell they were all generally less agitated, worried...They went back to doing those little things they always did--Treva and Bill playfully arguing about something or other, things like that."
Treva and Bill most definitely continued to argue about the small things. Bill and his friends went back to having dinner with each other every week.
"You do what you have to do to get by, and you have friends that help," Tena said.
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