Hispanic mothers find comfort as children return from war

<a href=www.sun-sentinel.com>By Sandra Hernandez, Sun Sentinel Staff Writer Posted June 3 2003

Hollywood · Aleyda Rojas has spent much of the past five months fighting back tears. But on Monday, she didn't shy away from weeping openly as she embraced her son as he returned from the frontlines of Iraq.

"My dear, today you are reborn in my eyes," she said as mother and son were reunited at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. "I'm just so happy."

Scenes like these are increasingly repeated across the United States as soldiers return home to their families, and for them, for Rojas and a small group of South Florida Hispanic women, it marks the end of a painful, uncertain period.

In March, Rojas joined an informal support group for South Broward Latinas with family serving in the war. The women say it has helped them endure some of the toughest days of their lives.

"I don't know what I would have done without them," said Rojas, whose son Josué Samudio, 18, joined the Marines only two days after graduating from high school in the hopes of earning money for college. In January he was deployed to the Persian Gulf. He fought in Baghdad and was posted to guard Iraqi military officials.

Rojas credits the group with helping her cope with the isolation and worry that the dangers of war could find her son.

"I spoke with one of the women who told me she had gone through something similar, and I felt like I wasn't crazy," Rojas said.

Even so, four months under constant stress landed her in the hospital, where doctors discovered a heart condition in April. "Some nights I would come home from work, and I was so afraid that someone would be waiting to tell me something had happened to my son. My husband tells me I would often talk in my sleep and cry out, asking, `Where is Josué?'" she said.

Once she left the hospital, she continued to call the other mothers in the group to share the anxiety she felt for her son, so far from home. But mostly she turned to them to help understand the toll it was taking on her family here, including her husband and daughter, 6.

"It's hard to explain to someone that you are being hard on your husband or don't have patience with your little daughter because of the fear and stress."

One of the women she formed a bond with is Sol Rivero, whose daughter and son-in-law were both deployed to Iraq.

Rivero, who moved to Miami Lakes from Venezuela almost a decade ago, said she was heartened when Rojas called 10 days ago to tell her the news of her son's homecoming.

"I guess it reminds me my daughter is coming home soon, and it keeps me going," said Rivero, whose daughter Jinais Paiz, is scheduled to return at the end of June.

But for Rojas and the other women, the joy remains tinged with bittersweet thought of the soldiers who remain behind, like Grace Castro's son Jonah, who is expected to return in July.

"I am happy that my son is home, but I know there are mothers out there whose child is still there or have lost a son and I can't stop thinking about those families," Rojas said.

More than 105,000 Hispanics are serving in the military. They make up more than 9 percent of the enlisted men and women, according to the Department of Defense. Latinos account for 8 percent of the 1.2 million members of the ready reservists. More than 240,000 of all enlisted soldiers were deployed to the Middle East.

Sandra Hernandez can be reached at shernandez@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7923.