A Year Without Daddy – by Seth McConnell

Seth McConnell, MU undergrad, shows us a story on Rana Holland’s life as she raises her two sons while her husband is deployed in Kosovo.

In March of 2008 Staff Sergeant Gregg Holland of the South Dakota Army National Guard was deployed to Kosovo for a year. In his absence his wife, Rana, took on the role of both parents to their two young sons, Ethan, 6 months and Isaac, 2.

Rana and Gregg’s plans for the future came skidding to a halt in December of 2007 when he found out his unit, Company C, 1st Battalion, 189th Aviation Regiment, South Dakota Army National Guard, was deploying to Kosovo to provide 24-hour medical evacuation response for NATO forces. The couple had four short months befor Gregg’s deployment. Four months for Rana to prepare for a year on her own.

Check out more work on Seth’s blog.