The paper chain is getting shorter for six Gienapps in St. Elmo awaiting the return from Iraq of their favorite National Guardsman.
Andy Gienapp, who has been supervising a team of about 15 medics in Iraq for the past year, is due to arrive back home soon along with more than 3,000 fellow soldiers with the 278th Regimental Combat Team.
Jenny Gienapp said, "We have been putting a yellow ribbon on our chainlink fence for every day Andy has been gone. It is starting to look pretty gaudy. We also have a paper chain inside. It was stretched across the ceiling, but we are down to about three links near the back door."
She said the couple's five children take turns clipping off the links when another week passes.
The children are Emmett, who is almost 12; Megan, 10; Abigail 7, and the twins, Ella and Cullen, almost 3. The family is hoping Andy will be back in time for the twins' upcoming birthday.
Jenny says, "The twins really have no idea who he is. But they will warm up to him very quickly."
She says some of the 278th soldiers have already departed from Iraq and the medics working under Andy are packed up. She is expecting him at Camp Shelby, Miss., near Hattiesburg, sometime next week.
Jenny says, "Everybody is very excited, but it is not like we are bouncing off the walls. I think we are just tired, and we really can't believe he actually will be back with us."
There was a grand sendoff when the local 278th soldiers left in November of last year. But they will be trickling back in, not coming in a convoy. There is a large contingent from Cleveland, though not so many from Chattanooga.
The 278th lost 10 of its members during the year's stay in Iraq, though none from Chattanooga.
The Gienapps all together last November. Click to enlarge.