By:Nicole Falco
Barber saluted the school on behalf of all the coalition forces serving in Iraq during a welcome-home ceremony last Thursday morning. The entire student body honored Barber, the father of two Clear Stream students, with an assembly on the school's front lawn.
"It is people like him who make those sacrifices that allow us to continue living how we're living," Principal Bob Cohen explained to the students.
With American flags in hand, the students sang "God Bless America" and recited the Pledge of Allegiance for Barber. A member of the 442nd Military Police Unit, Barber returned to New York on April 26 after a year in Iraq. His unit is based in upstate Orangeburg. A reservist with the Army National Guard, he was called to active duty in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001.
After the outdoor ceremony, students in his son Christopher's fifth-grade class and his daughter Rebecca's second-grade class hosted a bagel breakfast for Barber. Since returning home, he has talked to different classes at Clear Stream, describing the year he spent in Iraq. Students in Sandra Aragona's second-grade class (Rebecca's class) and Barbara Clarke's fifth-grade class (Christopher's class) sent Barber and his unit countless letters and holiday cards. In return Barber sent an American flag to the school that was signed by the members of his unit. The flag now hangs in the school's main corridor.
While in Iraq, Barber's unit ran a police academy, training more than 5,000 Iraqis, patrolled the streets of Iraq and took part in escort missions. Barber, a member of the Nassau County Auxiliary Police Department, also acted as Eucharistic minister, assisting Army chaplains. He is an active member of his childhood parish, Our Lady of Victory in Brooklyn, and is studying to be ordained a deacon in that church. Before meeting his wife, Joyce, he was studying to become a priest. Barber credits his "great faith" with helping him endure the year in Iraq, away from his wife and children -- he has another daughter, Jessica, 18.
"I knew it wasn't my time," Barber said. "I knew I would be safe ... there was always gunfire, shots going off. We had to get used to that."
At first, being away from his family was especially difficult because of soldiers' limited access to telephones and the Internet. "In the beginning, when we got there, there was no such thing as a phone call ... that made the morale very low," he said.
Last May, Barber was granted leave to attend his father-in-law's funeral. While at home, he bought a satellite phone, which he took back to Iraq. For $2 a minute his unit was able to call home. His wife was able to pay the $3,000 to $5,000 phone bills with money he sent from Iraq. "It was something to keep morale up -- that is something very important when you're overseas in a combat zone," he said. After a couple of months, telephone and e-mail service improved.
Being away for a year was hard on both Barber and his family. "As a military person, you always have to be ready to go," he said. "I always talked to my wife in case something happened and I got the call to go overseas."
Barber's wife kept the family together, and didn't mind the extra work because it kept her busy and kept her mind off her worries. "I told her not to listen to the news a lot," Barber said. "If there was anything she wanted to know, she should ask me."
Barber's two younger children said they promised him they would behave, help out around the house and do their homework. "I missed him a lot, and I wanted him to come back home," Christopher said.
Since returning, Barber has been on leave, but he will report back for duty on May 30. In August he'll be eligible to be discharged from the reserves. Right now, he said, he's trying to get as much rest as possible and readjust to life in Valley Stream. He's also interested in getting back to work. Before being called to active duty, he was a computer engineer, consulting for the New York City mayor's office.
