Polson soldier, in Iraq, misses birth of his son

POLSON - Having a baby and overseeing the construction of a new home were monumental tasks this year for Laura Burland of Polson, but just as difficult was explaining to her 3-year-old daughter why her father is in Iraq.

Burland's husband, Shawn, is a member of the 639th National Guard unit that left in December 2003 for the war in Iraq. After training in Colorado Springs, the unit arrived in Iraq on Feb. 24.

"They have to have boots on the ground for a whole year before they can come back," she said.

That means Shawn Burland is scheduled to return home at the end of February, but they know things can change.

"I told Shawn not to get his hopes up," Laura Burland said. "He sounds more and more positive, though, that it will be the end of February or early March."

The 639th is stationed in Tallil, Iraq, where he's a mechanic and accompanies crews that travel outside the base to haul fuel to military vehicles.

"They were mortar-attacked a couple of times," Burland said.

Another time a mortar dropped dangerously close to a tent he was in.

"I try not to watch the news," she said. "I'm usually too busy, or Shawntaya is watching cartoons."

Burland has her hands full with a new son, Blaise Richard, born June 1, and her daughter, Shawntaya. The children and busy days have been blessings.

"I couldn't have gotten through this without my kids," she said.

She was pregnant when Shawn Burland got the news he would be leaving. They had also made plans to build a new home.

"When we found out I was pregnant we were so excited," said Laura Burland, 38, an administrative assistant at First Interstate Bank in Polson. "Then we found out he was leaving. It was hard knowing I'd have to go through it by myself."

The couple tried to make arrangements so her husband could be there for Blaise's birth, but ran into dead ends. When Burland went into labor at midnight on May 31, there was no way to reach him. She and her sister, a nurse from Indianapolis, headed to Community Medical Center in Missoula, picking up her husband's sister along the way. At 2 a.m., doctors determined the baby was breech and did an emergency Caesarean section.

When Shawn Burland called his parents the next morning, they delivered the good news: "You have a son!"

The hospital immediately put photographs of the new baby on its Web site, and he was able to see his new son online and write his thoughts in an electronic scrapbook on the site. His sister videotaped the birth.

A week later, the military arranged a flight home and Burland was able to spend a couple of weeks with his family.

"He tries to call a couple times a week," Laura Burland said. "A lot of local people have been generous with phone cards."

The Burlands are a couple that did everything together before Shawn Burland was deployed.

They got up at the same time each morning, had lunch together every day, shopped together and planned each part of their lives together. That togetherness has made the yearlong separation difficult.

"People see me on the street and say, 'Oh, that year went fast.' I tell them, 'That's easy for you to say. You're not the one living with the void in your life,' " Laura Burland said.

She and her daughter moved in with her husband's parents not long after he left. The house the young family had lived in was also his mother's childhood home. Though its sentimental value was great, the house was too old to refurbish, and the decision was made to have it destroyed as a practice burn for local firefighters. The Burlands' new home was built on the same site. Laura Burland and her daughter moved into the house shortly before her son was born.

Christmas was especially difficult for the entire family.

"My mother-in-law said she couldn't do Christmas this year," Burland said. "The only Christmas tree I put up was Shawntaya's pink Barbie tree."

Burland and her children spent the holidays with her mother in Colorado and are looking forward to the new year that will bring her husband's return.

"It's lonely," she said quietly. "I don't know how single parents do it.

"He worries about us. He says I've got the worst part of it. I can't call him, and I'm the one worrying, listening to the news. Nowhere in Iraq is safe."

In January, they'll start making signs in preparation for Shawn Burland's homecoming. Explaining his absence to his daughter has been one of the most difficult tasks. Time and separation are tough concepts for a 3-year-old to grasp.

"She'll ask me, 'Is dad home yet?'" Laura Burland said. "I tell her first there'll be Christmas, then her birthday in February, then dad will be home."

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com