“They also serve who only stand and wait."

— John Milton

ROSINTON — The neat Rosinton home with the busy sewing room and comfortable living room seems an unlikely home for a hero, let alone a pair of heroes. But for Susan and David Barnes of Rosinton, heroism is standing and waiting. And worrying.

They worry about their son, Staff Sgt. Benjamin David Barnes who earned a Bronze Star for valor in Afghanistan. Now stationed in Alaska, Barnes is safe, at least for now, from the heat, dust, smells, bullets and bombs of the Middle East.

But, Susan and David know he can be ordered back anytime. There’s a blue-starred service flag in their window for Benjamin.

Susan Barnes worries about Benjamin’s buddies, and about her grandsons, Michael, 3, and Paul 17 months. She worries about her daughter-in-law Elizabeth.

The Barnes have another son, Matthew, who lives in Daphne, and toys for his daughter are all over the house. It’s clear Susan is the doting type of grandmother.

That makes the worry worse.

“We lived here for 18 years,” said Susan. “Benjamin graduated from Robertsdale High in 1997. He went to the University of Alabama for a year, but he always wanted to go into the service.”

In a way, Benjamin is following a traditional path for his family. David was in the Air Force, and Susan and David met on a blind date while in Montgomery. They’ve been married for 33 years.

“We have a whole slew of relatives who were in the Navy,” said Susan.

But it was the Army that captured Benjamin’s imagination, and Benjamin became a paratrooper.

“He went to Iraq in March of 2003,” recalled Susan. “He was a paratrooper then, and he was dropped into the northern part of Iraq.”

Benjamin was stationed near Kirkuck, and Susan vividly recalls on on-line conversation with her son.

“We were chatting on the Internet,” said Susan, “And he wrote, “hold on a second.’ When he came back he said ‘There was some crazy Iraqi shooting at the building.’ It was scary just to know he was sitting there and somebody was shooting at him. There are things that they don’t tell you until they get home.”

In an e-mail interview, Ben was asked how soldiers deal with being scared.

“You don't. Plain and simple, if you have been trained well and retained that training you do not get scared in the heat of the moment because you know that you have a job to do and people to keep safe. Even if you are a private you still have a battle buddy and the two of you are responsible for each other. You keep a level head and concentrate on the job at hand; then after everything is over, you have everyone back on the camp then you can deal with what just happened. That's when you have that buddy to lean on and talk with. You have to or you just won't make it.”

So it was with some trepidation that Barnes learned that Benjamin was going back to the Middle East in May of 2007. Benjamin was now somewhere in Afghanistan. His family was in Alaska (Elizabeth is from Anchorage.) There’s frequent communication between the two homes, but this call was different.

“Elizabeth called me,” recalls Susan, “and told me that she had heard from (Ben’s unit’s) Family Readiness Group that Ben had been in a battle, and he was not hurt, but two were killed, one was Ben’s commander, and several were injured.”

Susan later learned that Ben had earned the Bronze Star for his actions that day.

“There was apparently an ambush,” Susan said.

Ben sums up the action: The CO (MAJ Bostick) along with our Squadron and Brigade commanders had designed a mission in order to initiate contact with a remote village named Saret Koleh. No American forces had been to this town in about 6 months when the last unit was there and had been ambushed. MAJ Bostick left early on the morning of July 27, 2008 with two platoons. Part of the way there his RTO (Radio Operator) injured his foot and my platoon sent PFC Sultan to replace him. My platoon, 3rd Platoon, had been left back at our COP (Combat Outpost) in the town of Kamu. Our job was act as a QRF (quick reaction force) in support of the rest of the troop. As the main body of the troop got close to Saret Koleh small overwatch positions began splitting off and moving up into the mountains to provide security for MAJ Bostick's element as they moved into the town.”

There’s a CNN report of the action at: http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2007/12/19/robertson.afghan.ambush.long.cnn.

According to Ben, the troops included: Commander-Major Thomas Bostick. Bostick was a captain, but was promoted posthumously/

“My Platoon was 3rd PLT, Anvil Troop, 1st Squadron 91st Cavalry, 173rd Airborne Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Platoon Sergeant-SFC Rodney O'Dell. Platoon Leader-1LT Alex Newsom (he has since been promoted to CPT). Squad Leader-SSG John Faulkenberry. Team Leader-SGT Bryce Herbert (he has since been promoted to SSG). Team Leader-SPC Robert Howard. Squad Leader-SSG Benjamin Barnes. Team Leader-SPC Andrew Bluhm. Team Leader-SPC Michael Hochstetler. Medic-PFC Wyatt Adams. Forward Observer-SGT Joseph Parise. Soldiers included: PFC Jonathan Sultan, SPC Michael DelSarto, PFC Jeffrey Hodges, PFC Bentley Simpson, PFC Levi Nelson Marker, PFC Brandon Hebert, and PFC Bradley Olson.

Ben was one of the soldiers who recovered Major Bostick’s body.

“It is important that we retrieve the body of a fallen soldier for many reasons:

— To give his family the closure of seeing him for the last time

— To ensure that his remains are not mistreated by the enemy

I can't tell you why soldiers do what they do other than they are just following orders. What I can tell you is why I needed to retrieve his body. MAJ Bostick was a great man, I knew him from when I was stationed in Italy and he was the CO for another company. He always led from the front and knew his men like a father knows his own kids. He was a former NCO who became an officer, yet retained that no-bullshit attitude that is usually not found in an officer out of West Point or ROTC. He was a friend, mentor and brother and I made sure his body came back with us and was taken care of; the same as if it was my wife, children, father, mother or brother who had died.”

Today, Ben is a squad leader in the Warrior Transition Unit at Richardson, Ak. His job is to assist wounded soldiers in their transition to the civilian world or to another job in the Army He has not decided if he’ll remain in the Army after 2012, when his current enlistment ends, citing family pressures. When he does leave the Army, he’s thinking of becoming a police officer.

Susan Barnes added in an e-mail, “though my husband and I were fearful for Ben, we also trusted God for his protection. And many people whom Ben didn't even know were praying for him. So we thank God for keeping Ben safe during this time. This is very important to us.

And though we are very proud of Ben and his service to his country, we are very proud of both of our sons.”