Eric Page in Kuwait. He is now home.

by Amber Countryman, Sumner Newscow — One year ago, 1st Sgt. Eric Page received word that he would be deployed in Kuwait for one year. Recently, he was reunited with his family in Wellington.

Page has served in The National Guard for 32 years, joining when he was still in high school. For the past four years, he has served as a 1st Sergeant, which is the senior enlisted soldier.

“It had been my goal throughout my military career to be a 1st Sergeant,” Page said. “I finally made it, and always dreamed of deploying as a 1st Sergeant. One month into the deployment, they moved me from being the company 1st Sergeant into the battalion operations section.”

Page’s first deployment was in Germany right after 9-11. In 2005, he went to Iraq, which was an actual combat deployment.

It was an emotional return last week when Eric Page came home after a year in Kuwait.

“I had a desk job though, and didn’t see any actual combat,” Page said.

When Page was serving in Iraq, a mortar round landed near him while he was walking to the office.

“A mortar round landed about 700 meters away,” Page said. “The second round landed only about 350 meters away. They usually shoot three rounds, and the third round would have been very close to where I was at. I went in the building really quickly, but that time they only dropped two rounds.”

“The time that I was the most scared in Iraq, I wasn’t actually on a mission,” Page said. “I was sitting in my room in the evening, and there was an explosion. Whenever there was an explosion, the walls would move. I said it was like the walls would breathe. There were several explosions, way more than the normal three. I was convinced that we were under attack, and was considering what I was going to do to support the counterattack. The problem was that I didn’t have a helmet or a weapon with me, except my pistol, and only about 10 bullets. I finally turned on the TV and saw the explosions were caused by an enemy mortar round hitting an ammo supply depot about five miles away. It was funny after that, but at that time, I was truly scared.”

In 2010, Page was deployed to Africa to train African soldiers.

“I fell in love with the people of Africa and left part of my heart there,” Page said. “I’m still in communication with some of the people I met almost 10 years ago.”

While serving in Iraq, he was not able to interact with any Iraqi people.

“I was disappointed while in Iraq that I was not able to interact with any Iraqi people,” Page said. “That was the reason that I was determined when I went to Africa to rub elbows with African soldiers.”

Page’s job in Africa was to be a mentor and advisor to the Armed Forces Liberian soldiers.

“I had to leave Africa before I got to do too many things with the soldiers, but my best friend went to a soldier’s house after buying a monkey that they ate.”

This most recent deployment to Kuwait was considered a training mission.

“For the most part, almost none of our entire unit saw any kind of combat,” Page said. “We were there as a deterrent to try and stop Iran from getting any big ideas.”

In Kuwait, he said, only one out of every four people there were Kuwaiti.

“Kuwaitis are very wealthy,” Page said. “Many people from other countries work for them in service jobs. I befriended many people from India in Kuwait, but never met a Kuwaiti.”

Page’s favorite part of being in the military is forming a brotherhood among soldiers.

“I love the sense of brotherhood and being able to serve my country,” Page said.

Eric and Cathy Page have been married for 29 years and have five children: Sam, 18; Audrey, 13; Joey, 9; Benji, 8; and Jake, 6.

“I missed my anniversary and every child’s and my wife’s birthday last year,” Page said. “That is one of the hardest parts of being deployed. I hate that serving forces me to be away from the ones that I love.”

Page was a battle sergeant, who works to keep track of all the operations that were running. They had to keep track of everyone’s job and whereabouts.

“We always had someone manning the radio and phone, 24 hours a day,” Page said. “The truth is, it’s important but boring work.”

Page earned his teaching degree from Newman University.

“It was my goal to be a teacher for a long time, but along the way, I got side-tracked,” he said.

He had been working at Futures Unlimited in a position that involved a lot of teaching.

“It was very satisfying for me,” he said.

Eric with his wife Cathy.

When his job ended, he was determined to go back to college and finish his original plan to become a teacher.

“I have never regretted getting my teaching degree,” he said.

In 2001, Page began teaching math at Wellington Middle School. For five years, due to a result of being deployed, he taught American History.

“When I would deploy and not teach for the full year, math was so important for state testing, that they would move me to another classroom,” Page said.

When Page reunited with his family, it was a very emotional time.

“I’m an emotional person, and I was pretty overwhelmed just walking into the airport at Topeka,” Page said. “At that point, I wouldn’t see my family yet for another two hours. Two of my children were crying when they saw me, and I shed some tears as well.”

The family enjoyed some really good, long overdue hugs when they were reunited. When he arrived back home, many neighbors had gathered in their yards with signs welcoming him home. The biggest sign though was on the front porch of his house.

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