By clare MARie celano
Staff Writer
VERONICA YANKOWSKI U.S. Marine Sgt. Eric Tiedemann Jr. is serving with American forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom while his friends and family members in Freehold Borough and his wife in North Carolina wait and pray for his safe return.
On Jan. 3, U.S. Marine Sgt. Eric Tiedemann and his bride, Bonnie Bell, pledged their love and allegiance to each other in a civil ceremony in North Carolina. Nine days later, the young Marine left to fight a war.
FREEHOLD — Wartime brings heartache, it brings pain, it brings stress and strife — and in some instances it also brings marriage.
Historically, many military couples have been known to exchange wedding vows with a deployment order in their hands.
Many soldiers have "tied the knot" before being shipped off to parts unknown and from what borough resident Eric Tiedemann said, the chapels are very busy right now, at least in North Carolina. Military marriages are alive and well.
Bonnie Bell and U.S. Marine Sgt. Eric Tiedemann Jr. were married on Jan. 3, nine days before he shipped out to fight a war in Iraq.
"It’s contagious right now," said the father of Eric Tiedemann Jr., who surprised both Tiedemann and his wife, Lisa, by getting married on Jan. 3.
Eric Jr. and his wife, Bonnie, who met in North Carolina 18 months ago, were engaged to be married but, according to his mother, had not set a wedding date. Both parents admit they were more than a little surprised when they heard the news.
"Bonnie is a wonderful girl and she will be very good for Ricky," the soldier’s mom commented, adding that she and her husband are very happy about their son’s marriage.
Bonnie, 21, is a student at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., and is anxiously awaiting the return of her military husband.
"Her life is essentially on hold," Lisa Tiedemann said. ‘There are so many things she’d like to do. She can’t even really look for an apartment until he returns home."
According to Eric Tiedemann, all of their lives are "on hold" until their son comes back. Faith in God helps them get from one day to the next, said the couple.
The couple have raised three children in the borough, Tracy, 29, Kelly, 27, and Eric Jr. (Ricky), 24, who is a Marine serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Tiedemann said his son’s desire to serve as a Marine was so strong that he signed up with a Marine recruiter while he was still a senior at Freehold Borough High School.
"It was all he talked about," Tiedemann said.
The proud father said that military life was so much a part of Eric Jr.’s upbringing that it seemed an almost natural progression of events for him to join the ranks of those in the military who preceded him — his father, his two uncles, his grandfather and his two great-uncles as well.
A third generation military man, and a second generation Marine, Eric Jr. made his last year in high school really count. He spent a good part of it getting in shape for the Marines by taking fitness readiness programs and pre-Marine training sessions, according to his father.
"Pre-Marine training is actually what kept him in school," Lisa said. "You have to maintain good grades, you have to be on your best behavior or they won’t accept you."
After his enlistment in July 1997 Eric Jr. attended boot camp at Parris Island, S.C. Then came flight equipment training in Pensacola, Fla., where he learned to maintain and repair flight equipment. The training he received there prepared him for the job he now performs in Iraq.
"Now that he’s a sergeant, he’s responsible for everything," the soldier’s father said, explaining that his son is responsible for ensuring the proper working order of equipment such as the pilot’s flight suit, head gear, helmet, survival equipment and parachutes among other things.
This is not the young man’s first time in the Middle East, according to his father, who said Eric Jr. was deployed overseas soon after Sept. 11 to serve on the USS Bataan. Eric Jr. re-enlisted in the Marines in November 2001.
March 2002 brought the soldier home to his duty station at Cherry Point, N.C., along with other members of his unit, VMA-223, where his mother said he "looked so much more mature."
Eric Jr. shipped out again on Jan. 12. In an interview, his parents said they don’t know exactly where their son is right now. They’re not allowed to know, but his mom faithfully scrutinizes each and every photo that arrives over her e-mail from him. She checks for sand, she checks for any signs that would indicate that he was on desert land.
"It’s not easy," Lisa said, sighing, head lowered as she spoke. "Not easy. We just take one day at a time."
The Tiedemanns said they are very fortunate because although they have not seen their son since December, when he came home for Christmas, they are able to communicate with him via e-mail on a daily basis. Although all e-mail and telephone calls are carefully screened and physically observed by authorities, Lisa said she’s very grateful that she has contact with her son.
"I honestly don’t know how other parents do it," she said, referring to families that have loved ones in the war who they are not able to contact at all. "I feel so very bad for them. I can’t imagine how difficult that must be. It’s hard enough for us at this time."
A proud mother revealed that her son told her not to worry.
"I’ve been trained to do this work and I’m ready to go," she quoted her son as saying.
Nevertheless, Lisa said she was terribly upset when she found out that her son would be going to war.
When asked how she thought Eric Jr. actually felt about participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom, she said, "They’re all scared. Scared of the unknown."
Lisa spoke about a recent e-mail she received from her son, referring to the anti-war demonstrations he’d seen.
His response?
"What is going on in your world?"
Lisa has since been snapping photos on highways, in towns, anywhere she can find evidence of support for the troops. The outside of the Tiedemann home is a visual tribute to her son and to everyone else’s son or daughter who has left their native soil.
Bundles of yellow ribbons tied into sashes adorn the home, the American flag flies every day on a metal pole in the backyard, and a Marine star hangs in the front living room window, waiting for a Marine to return home.