Deployed Army couple says ‘I do’ again

U.S. Forces Iraq ^ | Staff Sgt. Rob Strain, USA

[SandRat]

CONTINGENCY OPERATING LOCATION Q-WEST – Wedding bells were ringing at the chapel here recently, when two deployed U.S. Army Soldiers renewed their vows to mark their one-year anniversary.

Sgt. Christopher Jones, a food service specialist, and Spc. Elyse Jones, a logistics specialist, both with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Special Troops Battalion, 15th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), welcomed friends and well-wishers to the ceremony, April 13.

Instead of a white gown for the bride and a tuxedo for the groom, both were dressed in Army green, just like the guests and the chaplain.  In lieu of a band or organist, a digital player provided the music.

The couple met in 2008 while stationed in Daegu, South Korea, and got married in a courthouse in Killeen, Texas, April 13, 2008, Christopher, a Camden, N.J., native, said.

According to Staff Sgt. Jennifer Hutton, a Honolulu native and the battalion's supply non-commissioned officer in charge, Elyse mentioned renewing their vows when they returned, but Hutton suggested doing it here.

"I told her, 'Why not do it here?'" Hutton said.

The idea to renew their vows in Iraq started out playful, Elyse said.

"I didn't know they would run with it," Hutton said.

"It was a joke," Elyse said.

While it may have started as a joke about a week before the ceremony, the couple took it very seriously.

After checking with the battalion chaplain, things started moving forward and the date was set – April 13, the couple's anniversary, Hutton said.

The renewal ceremony was a first for Capt. Brent Crosswhite, the battalion's chaplain. He had done renewal ceremonies before, but never while deployed.

"It's a good way to help a marriage become stronger," Crosswhite, a Blanchard, Okla., native, said. "Another tool we can use to encourage long-lasting relationships."

The couple wanted to do something special to celebrate their first year of marriage while also on their first deployment together, Christopher said.

"We didn't want anything all big and extravagant," he said. "Just something that was very significant to us.  We really didn't know if we were going to get a chance like this again."

Renewing their vows was important to Elyse because they didn't get to write their own for their wedding last year.

"We didn't have our own vows the first time," Elyse said. "It was a treat to actually speak what we felt."

[SandRat]

[FlingWingFlyer]

Dedication. Now there is something you don’t see much anymore. God Bless these two soldiers. Keep them safe and bring them home.

[jazminerose]

Awwwww. I hope they get to have a big, splashy wedding with tons of gifts when they come home safe and sound.

If, of course, that’s what they want.

Godspeed.