War-torn Iraq.
It’s probably the last place on Earth where a caring mother would want to send her beloved son, but Ro Gertha Howard marched into Hooters Downtown Friday and threw her U.S. Army officer son a grand old party.
The celebration was also for Howard’s sister Karen Howard, a retired military veteran, and “in appreciation for every soldier fighting for this country,” Mother Howard said.
“It’s important that they know we appreciate them and thank them,” she said.
Equally important is that Mother Howard, age 67, wants to help keep her son, Ian Howard, in good spirits – indeed, alive. Earlier this year, a soldier from her son’s brigade came home and allegedly killed himself.
“I felt so said, because it could’ve been my son, but that’s still someone’s son and friend,” Mother Howard said.
“And when you hear about it, it hits home.”
In January of this year, 12 soldiers killed themselves and another 12 cases are pending, according to Defense Department Documents and Publications. The report identified two war-related suicides in February with 16 cases pending confirmation.
Last fiscal year, 138 U.S. soldiers took their own lives. Five additional cases are still pending. Nearly 5,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed since the Iraq war began in 2003, according to the Defense Department.
“At first, I didn’t deal well with news accounts of the casualties – it gets very emotional,” Mother Howard said, starting to cry.
“His dad (Jack Morton) was a strong support. No one felt what we felt. It was very hard,” she said.
Mother Howard is a sort of soldier herself. She actively participated in the local Civil Rights Movement and recalled working alongside activist Norman Seay and former U.S. Congressman William “Bill” Clay.
“I saw people go away and fight for their country, only to come home and have to fight for their rights and freedom here,” she said.
“And I know what it feels like to sit in the back of a bus.”
Little has changed, Mother Howard noted. She said her high-ranking military son still gets profiled by the police when he comes home on leave from the war.
“They say he fits the description of someone, but they let him go when he shows his credentials,” she said.
Ian Howard’s credentials are extraordinary. After receiving his degree in psychology from Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, as an ROTC cadet, he was commissioned by President Clinton to serve in the U.S. Army as an aviation officer.
As a commissioned officer, he assumed a leadership role as a first-rank 2nd lieutenant, a designation for ROTC college grads.
Howard quickly switched from aviation to military intelligence, noting that he was having a hard time because he had gone through a divorce. He said divorce and infidelity are factors that often confront soldiers when they return from deployments. It was his mother’s support, he said, that got him through and kept him on course.
“I was blessed to have my mother’s support. I didn’t always like her asking me if I was all right, but now I’m glad she did – it really helped me through,” he said.
“She and my sister (Karen, a war veteran) have really been here for me.”
Howard is now a major and officer in military intelligence, the second-most senior in his brigade, an esteemed post bestowed in October of last year.
As an intelligence officer, he is responsible for providing enemy information – including trends and whereabouts – to commanders. He also directs Unmanned Arial Vehicle operators, telling them where to fly, what to look at and when and where to strike.
He also strategizes with commanders of intelligence units that gather information from human and transmitted sources.
Last month he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, a prestigious honor for going above and beyond the call of duty during deployment. Less than five percent of 4,000 soldiers from his brigade have received that recognition, he said.
Since high school, Howard has been involved in military programs. He was in an ROTC program at Christian Brothers High School (CBC), where he became the first African-American student to become battalion commander. He graduated in 1991.
“He’s always been a high achiever, but he doesn’t talk about it,” Mother Howard said.
Ian put it like this: “It isn’t that I’m the smartest – just willing to work harder.”
It was no work, all play last Friday at Hooters, as family and friends played games and bonded. Ian also got a kick out meeting Blues hockey player Keith Tkachuk at a Blues game. His mother, an R.N. and former County jail employee, also made that happen.
The whole Howard family loves to laugh and treat people well. Just don’t disrespect the American flag in front of them – or be ready for war.