2/2/2013 – Thank You!

Cavalry;
So much has happened since we last saw you. My son, Sgt. Mark Brandon Mink, Army Airborne Ranger, came home safely from Afghanistan in April 2009. I could tell that it probably was a really bad campaign and he asked me not to plan a big homecoming for him, so we just had a private family gathering.

Mark got out of the military in May of 2009 and has been at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, majoring in Civil Engineering. He will graduate this May 18th!! We will be in Lubbock, Texas for that great celebration. He has been offered a job already with Baker Concrete out of Houston, Texas, but his first assignment will be in New Orleans, La. building a new Veteran’s Hospital!! A bit of irony I guess. He is still single. This is great for Wayne and I because we built a new home in Grayson, Louisiana and have lived here since June 2012. I just recently sold my house in Texas.

My brother, Vietnam veteran James Paul Douglas, has retired from ADM and he lives just 5 miles from me. We have enjoyed being together so much. He got married to a sweet woman that we all love on Dec 27. Paul was age 65 in May of 2012 and is doing well.

My sweet daddy, WWII veteran, A. J. Douglas (Albert James) was 89 in September and had developed severe dementia and he is now living in the North Louisiana War Veteran’s Home in Monroe, La. That is about 40 miles from Paul and I so we can see him often. He is doing really well there. This Veteran’s Home is really great. It is so beautiful there, built on a Louisiana Bayou!!

I just watched the video’s on the BCC site that my now son-in-law put together after Mark’s deployment celebration and it made me cry so much. I have not looked at it in about 2 years. But I never forget to thank God for bringing my precious son back home to me and God has blessed us all so very much. I have my FIRST GRANDCHILD!! Alexander James Gutierrez is 20 months old and lives in Pflugerville, TX with his mommy and daddy. I pray that he will never have to go to war.

I hope this finds you and all of yours in good health and we will always be grateful for what you did for Sgt. Mark Brandon Mink, Vietnam veteran James Paul Douglas, WWII veteran A.J. Douglas, AND ME, the mom, the sister, the daughter on March 29, 2008!!!

We will always love you and the Brazoria County Cavalry.
Dwana Douglas Mink Hamre