Soldiers Families Try to Stay Calm Amid News of Violence in Iraq

Arkansas families with soldiers in Iraq certainly aren`t resting well after Tuesday night`s wave of violence. Families of the Arkansas National Guard`s 39th Infantry Brigade know their loved ones are headed into the danger zone, if they aren`t already there. Twice in the last three years, Sergeant Anthony Ryken has been on deployment. The first time he missed the birth of his son, Conner, now two years old. His wife, Renee`, says then Conner sees soldiers on television, he calls them "Daddy Soldiers." Renee says in all this time, raising their son alone hasn`t been easy. But it has kept her mind off of the danger her husband`s in. "But he`s my salvation, because he keeps me going, he keeps me busy," she said. Sgt. Ryken left months ago when the 39th Infantry Brigade. He`s in Kuwait now waiting to leave for Iraq in a few days. The thought is discomforting to Renee, especially after Tuesday night`s bloody battles. "Scared. It does scare me, and a lot of butterflies," she said. Meanwhile she avoids the television. "I try not to watch it," she said. "I have to put it out of my mind, if not I will go crazy." So she has to trust that her husband will do his job well and come home soon. "I just thought the war`s over and it`s not." When Sgt. Ryken is home he`s officer Ryken with the Conway Police Department. Renee says she`s hoping he`ll returning in a year and a few months. The entire brigade is not in Iraq yet. The National Guard says some are there, while others are waiting in Kuwait and expected to move into Iraq over the next week.