Part II of Centre View's series on local residents serving in the War in Iraq includes members of the Army and Marines. To share stories of your loved ones, too, call 703-917-6430 or e-mail centreview@connectionnewspapers.com.
Mack Pence and Valen Mason went to rival high schools — he's a 1994 Chantilly grad and she's a 1994 Centreville grad — but that didn't stop them from falling in love. World events, however, have delayed their marriage.
The couple became engaged on New Year's Eve 2001 and planned to marry this spring. Then came hostilities overseas and Pence, an Army first lieutenant, headed to war.
"We were supposed to get married, May 17 — we set the date last June — but we've postponed it until spring of 2004 because of his deployment," said Mason, 26, of Little Rocky Run. "He left March 7 for Iraq."
The son of Ed and Linda Pence of Chantilly's Sutton Oaks community, Mack played varsity football in high school. He and Mason met at GMU in 1996 and, said Mason, they "just knew" they were meant for each other.
Describing her fiance as "just a wonderful person, all around — outgoing, friendly and caring," she said he's "very outdoorsy" and loves rock climbing, deer hunting and riding his Harley. He was in the ROTC in college and, after graduation from GMU in May 2000, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army.
Pence went to Fort Benning, Ga., for the infantry officers' basic course and airborne school; then in spring 2001, he was ordered to Fort Campbell, Ky. He returned to Georgia for ranger school, graduating last July. "It's a huge accomplishment," said Mason. "He learned small-unit tactics and leadership skills in a stressful environment."
Afterward, he returned to Fort Campbell and attended air-assault school. He's now in the 101st Air-Assault Division, nicknamed "The Screaming Eagles." He just turned 27 last Wednesday, April 2 and, said Mason proudly, "He's on the [promotion] list for captain."
Since Pence has been overseas, he's called her a few times and, initially, was "a little anxious for things to get going and because of the uncertainty of what could happen." But, she said, "He was positive and in good spirits."
She, however, is nervous. "My dad was in the Army, so I was used to having him deploy," she explained. "But it's a different feeling when it's your significant other. I have good days and bad days, and watching TV only makes it worse — especially when someone threw a grenade into the 101st. There are 15,000 of them, but you think, 'Oh, my gosh — I wonder if it's him.' It was scary. But Family Readiness called that night and told me it wasn't anyone from his group."
Meanwhile, Mason works full-time for a publishing company in Reston. She says Pence could be in Iraq for six months to a year, but they're making the best of it. "It was difficult for both of us to postpone the wedding," said Mason. "But this is his job and what he feels he has to do."