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For departing troops, farewells don't get easier the second time

Sending loved ones off to a war zone is never easy, even if they have been there before, family and friends of about 70 Hawaii Army National Guard troops realized early today.

The soldiers with B Troop, 1st Squadron, 299th Calvary Regiment boarded buses at Waiawa Armory bound for Hickam Air Force Base to board a jet on the first leg of a journey that will ultimately take them to Iraq.

They will spend the next two months training at Fort Hood, Texas, before moving to a base in Kuwait. From there, they will escort convoys, some of them traveling deep into Iraq, squadron officials said.

Those who left today will join another 370 members of the same unit who left earlier or from the Neighbor Islands.

"I think everybody's a little bit scared — that's a no-brainer," said Gerhard Borabora, a 2007 graduate of Nanakuli High School.

"I think if you say you're not scared, you're just lying to yourself," said Borabora, who is deploying for the first time.

He leaves behind his wife, 19-month old son Daniel and his job as shoe manager at the Celebrity Tuxedos store in Pearlridge Mall.

"You know you're gonna have contact (with insurgents) sooner or later," Borabora said.

In the past several weeks, he has made out a will, signed a power of attorney letter and made sure his wife knows where the necessary legal documents are kept, should the need arise.

Lowen Lewi, 27, of Makiki, was busy handing out M4 rifles to the departing troops as his wife, Jennifer, and 14-month-old son, Logan, waited in a nearby office to say a final goodbye.

It will be Lewi's second deployment to Iraq with the same Guard unit. He plans to stay in touch with his family via cell phone and e-mail.

"My plan is to call or write every day," said Lewi, a 2000 graduate of Konawaena High School on the Big Island.

Wife Jennifer Lewi, a 2001 Konawaena grad, said she will continue working as a pharmacy technician at the Don Quijote store on Kaheka Street near Ala Moana.

"My plan is to keep busy, keep working," Jennifer Lewi said. "Hopefully, I'll get a call from him every four or five days. I'll carry the cell phone with me wherever I go — I'll sleep with it next to my bed, I'll take it to the shower with me."

Lowen Lewi's uncle, Joseph Lewi, is also making his second deployment to Iraq.

At 46, he is one of the more senior members of the squadron.

This time, leaving home was a lot tougher, said Joseph Lewi, father or five children, whose youngest is 14.

Three of his children and several grandchildren were at the armory yesterday to see him off.

"It's always hard leaving the family behind. We're always together, whether it's fishing or bowling and so on.

"It's tougher now to leave — the kids are bigger and they realize what's going on," Lewi said, nodding toward his grandchildren. "It's a lot more emotional this time."

It will be up to Lewi's wife of 24 years, Vanessa, to tend to the homefront. Their youngest son, a ninth-grader at Radford High School, will keep her company.

Like most wives, Vanessa will depend on cell phone updates on her husband's well-being.

Captain Dekoning of Hilo sat next to his wife, Anela, and 6-month-old daughter, Rmi (pronounced "Army"), waiting for the bus to take him to Hickam. Four other children stayed home with family on the Big Island.

The couple rented a hotel room in Honolulu to spend a few more precious moments together before he left.

A medic who is making his second deployment to Iraq, Captain Dekoning — Captain is his actual first name — said the training in Texas will help bring him up to speed for the job ahead.

"After Texas, I should be good to go," he said.

Anela Dekoning planned to return to Hilo and her job as a paralegal.

If all goes according to plan, Captain Dekoning will be able to return to his job as a Big Island firefighter in about a year.