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Teacher's wish: To have her family home

NORTHEAST MACFARLANE Mary Galletti's husband, son and daughter are all serving in the Middle East.

By ELISABETH DYER
Published December 29, 2006

In a fourth-grade hallway at West Tampa Elementary, a child has carefully written on a construction paper ornament: "I wish for Mrs. Galletti to have her Christmas wish because she has been really good with me."

Mary Galletti doesn't tell her students how she worries. But they know anyway.

They ask about the photo on her desk: Her husband, Francisco, 47, daughter, Alejandra, 23, and son, Francisco IV, 20. They stand flanked by the U.S. flag, turned to one side so their Air Force insignias show, grinning proudly.

Her wish is to have her family safe and together. But she knows they are doing what they believe in: serving their country during war.

"It's in their blood, I guess," said Galletti, who is 45. Her husband left in September. Her son in October. Her daughter is home for now. But she worries the next troop rotation will take her away.

That would leave her to care for Alejandra's 3-year-old son A.J. They would be the only Gallettis remaining in Florida.

She thinks her husband is in Baghdad. He sends e-mails and calls most every week.

"I tell him I only worry about him 23/7," she said. "My son, I worry about 24/7."

From him, she's heard little.

"From here he went to Qatar and then," her voice warbled, "who knows where. Kuwait? He's somewhere. Somewhere."

Francisco IV had been a homebody. She got a letter from him with an APO address of Camp Spiker.

"Wherever the heck that is," she said.

Since the family can't be together at their Wesley Chapel home for the holidays, Galletti has modified traditions. For Thanksgiving, she and her daughter had steak and lobster.

Her phone rang Christmas Eve. It was her son and husband, safe and together in Iraq. It was a gift. She mailed packages to them: cookies, photos, socks and insoles for their boots, PlayStation games and drawing pencils for her son, Christmas CDs for her husband.

Mary and Francisco met in an ROTC class at the University of Puerto Rico. An injury kept her from signing up, but he joined the U.S. Army as an officer, working his way up to a chief warrant officer. He was stationed at Fort Hood and Fort Houston, both in Texas, then he left active duty after six years.

"I thought we were done with the military," she said. But a seed was planted.

As a child, Alejandra liked to dress up in her father's fatigues. One day, just after she had turned 17, she came home from school and told her parents she wanted to join the Air Force. Her parents signed their consent. And then Francisco enlisted in the Air Force Reserve.

Then came Sept. 11, and they were glad they already were serving. Francisco lost a cousin in the World Trade Center, Lourdes Galletti, an executive secretary. They both lost several friends in the Pentagon.

"It was something that hit us hard," Mary Galletti said.

Three years ago they moved from Connecticut to Tampa, where Francisco took a job as the writing specialist at Alonso High School. Francisco IV enrolled there as a senior. After he graduated, he planned to go to Arizona State University and study architecture.

He had never showed any interest in the military. It was a jolt the day he told them he had enlisted.

"He said he felt like it was his duty," his mother said. "I cried that day."

At school, her co-workers offer comfort. One had her students write cards to Francisco's unit.

On the day before winter break, her class of native Spanish-speaking students read stories they wrote, switching easily from English to Spanish.

"They don't know that they're my motivation to get up every day. I can't fall apart. I have to put that aside and think of them. They keep me focused."

Meanwhile, at home, Alejandra has re-enlisted for six more years.

Elisabeth Dyer can be reached at edyer@sptimes.com or 813 226-3321.

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[Last modified December 28, 2006, 11:15:05]