June 18, 2004

Hugs, happiness greet deacon on return from Mideast

Theresa Laurence
Tennessee Register

NASHVILLE. It will be a happy Father’s Day in the Krenson household this year. Deacon and soldier John Krenson has returned home safely to his family after serving a nine month tour of duty in Afghanistan with the 230th Army Liaison Team as an intelligence officer.

“We’re relieved to have the family back together,” his wife Carrie said, adding that she and her husband are thankful that the re-adjustment period has gone so well, especially with their children.

About a month after John and Carrie Krenson returned from Russia after completing the adoption of their 2-year-old son Evan, John was called up for deployment with his National Guard unit. When he returned from Afghanistan, John said, “I thought Evan might ignore me at best or be scared at worst,” but father and son have bonded in the three weeks he has been home.

Evan’s big sister Dasha, a firecracker of a 4-year-old whom the Krensons also adopted from Russia, is very excited to have her dad back. “I love you so much I can’t stand it,” she says, pouncing on him and giving him a hug around the neck, much to her parents’ amusement.

Through frequent e-mails, periodic phone calls and care packages, the Krenson family was able to keep in touch across the eight time zones that separated Nashville from Kabul, Afghanistan. When the family met him at the airport, “it felt like he’d never been gone,” Carrie said.

The couple, who were married 10 years before John left to serve in Afghanistan, said their decade of commitment helped keep them close while the family was separated.

The support and commitment of the Cathedral of the Incarnation family to the Krensons “cannot be overstated,” said John, who serves as a deacon at the parish.

“It wasn’t so much the tangible things that people did (which were many indeed) but it was the overwhelming prayer, support, and encouragement that has touched us so greatly. We knew individuals would pray for us but we did not expect the volume and the power of that prayer,” he said. “Whatever it happened to be that we were experiencing at any given moment – loneliness, anxiety, stress, fear, even the rare moment of joy or relief – we knew our Cathedral family was with us and that God was carrying us.”

Soldier, deacon
Since her husband’s return, Carrie is learning more about John’s role as an intelligence officer in Afghanistan, primarily through his photographs and scrap book. Like her husband, Carrie doesn’t distinguish between supporting the troops and supporting the cause. “I see the reason why we’re there,” she said.

The Krensons know that not everyone shares their view on U.S. military action in the Middle East and can respect that, but John says that outspoken criticism against the war “undermines our efforts.”

When foreign insurgents see Americans protesting the war here, “they try to exploit that,” and lash out against U.S. soldiers and civilians in the war zone, he said. “It gives more momentum and encouragement to the enemy.”

Krenson said he has been welcomed back by supporters and detractors of the war alike, and around him “most people keep their opposition to war to themselves.”

A deacon and a soldier, Krenson believes his spiritual and military duties are “necessarily intertwined, particularly to ensure that war is fought, when necessary, without hate and with right purpose.”

Krenson’s role in Afghanistan was strictly as a soldier and his unit was “under more stress than we realized over there. Everything we did revolved around life and death,” he said.  

Readjusting to home life has so far been smooth, Krenson said, but some days he gets a “fish out of water feeling.”

Witnessing history
When he first got home three weeks ago, Krenson, a confessed “news junkie,” avoided all news. “I sequestered myself for a while,” he said. He has begun watching and reading the news again, but receives it from a decidedly different perspective than when he was in Afghanistan.

When he hears the news now, Krenson said he wants more context. “When I hear that a U.S. soldier is attacked, I wonder what the bigger picture is, whether it’s an isolated incident” he said.

Foreign media outlets often give more information, he said, but he doesn’t think the American news media purposefully skimps on Afghanistan coverage. “There’s so much other news out there that’s just the way it happens.”

For example, Krenson said, at the same time the Afghan constitution was being approved, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was captured.

“The constitution was a huge deal, but it’s hard to beat the Saddam news,” he said.

He anticipates hearing more from Afghanistan as the country moves toward its first scheduled democratic elections in September. 

Krenson has seen major progress sweep through Afghanistan since last August when he arrived in the country. Significant road projects have been completed, heavy weapons have been collected and record numbers of children are now enrolled in school, he said. “We have a long way to go, but we’ve come a long way.”

Just a month ago, Krenson was witnessing major world events unfold right outside his window, but now he is content to watch them on his television screen or in the newspaper, with his family close by. Krenson returned to work this week at the chemical business he owns with fellow Cathedral deacon and friend Mark Faulkner.

Krenson will also have to report for normal Army National Guard duties, one weekend a month and two weeks a year.

Acknowledging that in a time of war, additional commitment may be required, he said, “If deployment comes up again we will both support it – not with great joy – but with a realization of the importance of this mission.” •