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from Denver Post Mom longs for news from sailor daughter E-mails few and far between By <A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]";>Susan Greene</A> Denver Post Staff Writer Thursday, October 11, 2001 - Every evening after work, Donna Stevens rushes home to check her e-mail. She boots up, scrolls through the inevitable junk mail from cellphone dealers and credit-card companies, hoping to find a message from her daughter, Jessica. Then her heart drops. Stevens hasn't heard from Jessica since Friday, when she last wrote from aboard the USS Enterprise - a Navy aircraft carrier whose warplanes are bombing Afghanistan. The ship is stationed in the north Indian Ocean, far closer to harm's way than would be comfortable for any mother. "I don't hear from her. I can't see her. I can't hug her and, you know, put her under my wing. I can't help it; the mother thing is taking over," said Stevens, a 44-year-old building materials saleswoman from Longmont. Jessica Garrison enlisted in the Navy after graduating from Longmont's Skyline High School in 1997. Now, at 22, she's in her fourth year of service, doing mechanical work on radar planes based on the Enterprise. Stevens last saw Jessica in April, when she helped her pack for a routine, six-month cruise, then toured the ship - known as the Big E - before it launched from Norfolk, Va. She last spoke with her daughter Labor Day weekend, when Stevens broke the news that her mother, Jessica's grandmother, had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She tried to cheer Jessica by discussing plans to go horseback riding and shopping when Jessica was scheduled to return Oct. 26 for a 21-day leave. The ship and its 5,000-member crew had begun the journey home at the time of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks but then were ordered to turn around and stay in the area indefinitely. Stevens' last e-mail from Jessica was a message late last week saying that she and her shipmates were bored sitting around waiting for orders. On Jessica also e-mailed a new portrait of herself, taken to mark her recent re-enlistment with the Navy for another six years. Then, on Sunday, the strikes began. Stevens knows Jessica is not ignoring her. She knows that messages from the Enterprise are few and far between because officers must check them for security breaches and are busier than usual given this week's attacks. Stevens endured similar silent periods in 1999, when Jessica served aboard the USS Roosevelt near Kosovo. But Stevens says that this conflict is different and that she worries more than ever. "It all seems more intense now, more like a full-fledged war," she said. In a mid-September e-mail home, Jessica tried to reassure her mother that all was safe aboard the Enterprise. "I am out here to do my job and protect my country and family. Don't worry about me too much mom. I will be fine." Stevens' husband, Jim van Pelt, is a Vietnam veteran. Concerns about his stepdaughter give him a new appreciation for his own parents' worries. "There's always a chance, I suppose, that the Taliban could get to a ship out in the water. But I'm hoping that's unlikely," said the construction superintendent. "It's kind of discouraging because she's supposed to be on her way home, and we don't know when that will happen. And Donna wants her home so she can hold her." Stevens' oldest child, Will, also served in the Navy. He committed suicide in 1999 at 22, Jessica's age now. Stevens stays awake at night, hoping Jessica "will make it to 23." Her youngest child, 16-year-old James Kunce, says he has been distracted since the Sept. 11 attacks. "I'm really confused on the whole thing," he said. "It makes me upset. It makes me sad and angry, especially about Jessica being there. I'm not doing as good in school because of it." With no word from the Enterprise in four days, Stevens finds herself checking and rechecking her e-mail several times each night. She calms herself by writing her daughter, who receives messages more freely than she can send them. She tells Jessica to take care of herself and to stay alert. She tells her that she loves her and that she's proud of her. "It's the same message over and over again," she said. "I just want her to know I'm here." � ============================================================ You have been selected to get a 1000 Free AwardMiles from Topica. The process takes less than 30 seconds... Click here and join Milesource for your Free AwardMiles! http://click.topica.com/caaadE0b1ddNBb2HgmNf/Milesource ============================================================ Visit and show your support for the Grass Roots Oyate http://members.tripod.com/GrassRootsOyate Clemency for Leonard Peltier. 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