Like others, area family misses son on holiday

YOUNT, Mo. -- Sharon Unterreiner spent Christmas day like thousands of mothers around the country: thinking about her son who is overseas serving in Operation Enduring Freedom.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Shohn Lorenz, Unterreiner's 21-year-old son, is aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt halfway around the world.

This was the first year Unterreiner's family celebrated Christmas without Lorenz. "I don't care about Christmas as much this year," Unterreiner said. "It's not the same, there's just a piece of us missing."

Unterreiner usually spends Christmas Day laughing and telling stories with her husband, Michael, Lorenz and her 17-year-old son Tim Lorenz. This year she spent the day looking at a picture of her son atop the mantle, where his stocking hung, and waiting for the phone to ring.

"I don't know if he's going to be able to call today or not, but I hope he does," she said.

Last year the Unterreiner family knew Lorenz wouldn't be able to spend this Christmas at home so they celebrated with a big tree and a lot of friends. Lorenz was scheduled for a cruise that would take him away from the states for six months, which they expected to be during peace time.

That changed on Sept. 11.

Unterreiner and her son have been e-mailing and writing letters since he left on Sept. 15, the same day as both their birthdays. But they haven't spoken on the telephone since late October.

"Every day I hope he will call," Unterreiner said. "If he doesn't I think, 'Maybe tomorrow will be the day.'"

Lorenz was at home on leave with shipmate Adam Casillas when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11. Unterreiner was watching television that morning, and when she saw what had happened she immediately knew Lorenz would soon have to ship out.

"I went in Shohn's room, woke him and Adam up, and told them what had happened," she said. "By that afternoon they got a call telling them to get back to Virginia right away."

Michael Unterreiner was in Washington state on Sept. 11. Because airports were closed he thought he wouldn't be able to get back to Missouri to say goodbye to his stepson before he went off to war.

At 9 a.m. on Sept. 15, Unterreiner stepped off a plane at Lambert Airport in St. Louis and headed for the baggage claim. It was there he found Lorenz getting ready to board a plane in just over an hour.

"We got to spend about 35 to 45 minutes together before he had to go," Unterreiner said. "If I wouldn't have been able to see him then it would have been April or May before I did."

In Lorenz's last letter, dated Dec. 9, he said he expects to be back to Virginia by April.

Sharon Unterreiner is already anxious for the day his ship docks.

"We may not be able to be there the day his ship gets into port, but we'll be there soon after," she said. "I know he wants to get an apartment with his friends when they get back, but I hope we can go pick him up and bring him home for a while."

The Unterreiner's don't know if they will get to spend next Christmas with Lorenz because of the war, but they are sure about one thing: They're going to spend every minute they can with him when he gets back to the states just in case.

hkronmueller@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 128