Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
A Spring Hill woman fears for her Navy daughter loading ammo and bombs in wartime.
By JAMIE JONES
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 22, 2001
SPRING HILL -- In a small white house off U.S. 19, Susan Walker sits, thinking of the sea. Is it blue or green, rough or smooth, windy or calm? she wonders. She pictures a massive ship, sleek and gray, coursing through deep waters.
The petite redhead, 47 years old, spends a great deal of time thinking about the USS Carl Vinson. She watches for it on the evening news and on CNN. The ship holds her 25-year-old daughter, Dawnielle Shelatz, who has blond hair and green eyes and has wanted to be in the U.S. Navy since she was 12 years old.
Shelatz was intrigued by the water, the service, the challenge, her mother says. She joined the Navy four years ago and became an aviation ordnanceman, which means she loads ammunition and bombs into planes. In July, Shelatz left Lemoore Naval Air Station in California for her first deployment in the Persian Gulf.
Walker was worried about her daughter handling bombs in the middle of the ocean. She has been more concerned since the attacks on Afghanistan began. Her daughter's ship was on its way to the Persian Gulf when New York's World Trade Center towers fell, Walker said, and she believes the ship remains in the same general area.
Walker, like scores of others who have family and friends in the military, is proud of her daughter but fears for her safety as the war against terrorism continues.
"Like a typical mother, I worry about her," Walker said in an interview Sunday. "It's hard because I don't know exactly where she is -- just that she's somewhere in the ocean."
Walker and her husband, Jim, have been trying to gather support for the military across Hernando County. She and colleagues in the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 186 recently were trying to get people to write letters of support to Shelatz and other members of the military.
But on Saturday, one of her daughter's supervisors urged her not to pass out addresses, Walker said. They feared for the safety of their ship as anthrax scares continue, Walker said.
"It's sad and it's frustrating, because we know our daughter won't be home for Christmas," Walker said. "A lot of people will be away from their families. It's going to be hard on them, and we wanted to help."
Walker and her husband said they understand the safety concerns and will continue trying to find ways to show support for troops abroad.
For now, they're focused on their daughter. They send her care packages filled with cookies and peanut brittle, and tapes of her favorite television shows, such as JAG. They also will soon send her a T-shirt that the staff from Nellie's, a local restaurant, wrote encouraging messages on for Shelatz.
The Walkers write letters and try to e-mail their daughter regularly, but at times the ship goes into lock-down mode, which means they can e-mail Shelatz but she can't respond, Walker said.
Earlier this month, Jim Walker, who is Shelatz's stepfather, sent her a message that told her the country is behind her. "Your mom and I worry about you, so just be careful and come home safe," Walker, 49, wrote.
Shelatz, an E4 petty officer in Strike Fighter Squadron 22, assured him she would.
"You can count on me coming home," she wrote. "You think I would miss Mom's cooking?"
The World Trade Center attacks have strengthened her desire to remain in the Navy, Walker said. Before Sept. 11, Shelatz told her parents she was thinking about leaving. She recently decided to re-enlist for another six years, Walker said.
"What she's doing on the ship is dangerous," said Jim Walker, a manager for Senica Air Conditioning. "When she first got on, she was scared. Now she's settled and has gotten used to it. Also, you don't mess with her country. She's committed to serving."
Walker stood in her daughter's bedroom Sunday. She looked at two twin beds, stuffed bears lying on top. A champagne glass from her daughter's high school prom in Pennsylvania was nearby. A hat for the Dallas Cowboys hung from a wall near a large autographed poster of basketball star Michael Jordan.
"She's always been a tomboy," Walker said of her daughter.
Walker fingered pink roses in a vase, a present from her daughter when she last visited in May. "They still smell sweet," Walker said with a laugh.
Walker said she will miss her daughter at Christmas. Shelatz isn't scheduled to be home for another three months, but her return is uncertain, Walker said.
"I know she'll be okay because the Navy is her family," Walker said. "It's tough, but that's part of kids' growing up and having their own lives. We just hope she'll come home safe."