War's over..but what about homecoming?

The scene has become familiar: a tearful reunion as a smiling soldier kisses his wife or a beret-wearing mother hugs her daughter. With the fighting in Iraq over, many military loved ones are coming home to a happy ending.

But for others -- those who still haven't heard from their family members overseas, in some cases for months -- a joyous reunion remains elusive.

For them, a different battle has begun.

A war against worry.

"John and Casey wouldn't want me to be upset, but that's hard to do when I haven't heard from them in so long," said Brenda Elliott, a Cape Girardeau nurse's assistant who has a son serving as a Marine sniper in Iraq and another son serving as an Army combat engineer in Korea.

"I've got twice the worry," she said.

Elliott is coping as best she can. She attends a military support group once a month. She's keeping a diary that her sons can read when they get back. She's snipping news articles and family photos for a scrapbook she wants to give them.

She's basically doing anything to keep her mind off of the fact that she hasn't heard from her oldest son, John Scarbrough II, since he left for Iraq, and she hasn't heard from son Casey White, who is in Korea, in eight weeks.

"I'm getting kind of concerned," she said Friday. "I really don't know anything."

Elliott thought when she heard President Bush say Thursday night that "we have prevailed," it might mean her boys would be coming home soon.

Not necessarily, says Uncle Sam.

"It will be just like when the forces started flowing into the area starting back in December, slow and steady," said Navy Chief Petty Officer Diane Perry, a spokeswoman for the Department of Defense. "It's not going to be a sudden, 'Pack your bags, we're getting out of here.'"

Perry, who works in the Pentagon, said that a lot depends on the unit and how versatile it is. Many soldiers will remain behind to help rebuild the country.

"We just ask the families to be patient," she said. "We know that is hard."

It has been hard on Elliott. It's also been hard on people like Bob and Glenda Gum,who have a son, Maj. Scott Gum, stationed in Kuwait.

"Everything's been so nerve-wracking," said Glenda Gum.

The Gums have been a bit more fortunate than Elliott, having periodically heard from their son, who is a lawyer from Kansas City who serves in a National Guard medical unit.

"We've talked to him, but it's still iffy," Glenda Gum said. "We're thinking maybe they'll be leaving the first of June, but we don't know anything for sure."

Cape Girardeau resident Jackie Todd's daughter-in-law is stationed as a dietitian in Kuwait with the Navy. He expects Lt. Connie Todd -- who used to work at a Cape Girardeau hospital -- to be gone from her husband and children for at least another six months.

"My son has been Mr. Mom with two kids in Pensacola," Todd said. "It hasn't been easy, but we've been able to accept it because we have the faith in God that things are going to work out OK."

Valerie Marler of Jackson shares that faith, hoping that Daniel Marler, who is an Air Force fuel specialist, will walk through her door soon. Last she heard, he was at Baghdad International Airport.

"I haven't heard from him in a couple of weeks," she said. "Even then it was a letter postmarked April 7."

She was worried throughout the whole war, of course, but she said that has subsided now that "it seems to be pretty well over with."

"But it's rough," Marler said. "I don't know if he's moved again or what."

Terrie Weaver of Jackson has spent a lot of time wondering when her son, Sgt. Benjamin Weaver, is coming home. He's also stationed in Kuwait, but Weaver doesn't know where exactly.

"We're seeing people coming home, but we haven't heard anything specific as to who's coming home or when," she said. "We wonder how much longer he's going to have to be there."

Her son works in intelligence, which limits what he can say on the few occasions he has called home on a satellite telephone.

Meanwhile, the families continue to wait, scanning newscasts and coping. They pick up the phone expectantly and close mail boxes disappointedly. They all remain hopeful.

They all want what Weaver wants.

"We just want him to come home."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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