Jamin Moore of near Moorefield is a soldier in the U.S. Army.
After spending three years serving his country in the National Guard, for the past year he has been on active duty with the Army. He has a sense of duty to his country and to protecting those who live in it, and he is proud to wear the uniform of a soldier.
Jamin Moore is a father.
On Sunday, December 23rd, Jamin Moore came home to Moorefield to meet someone he’s only seen in photos and through an Internet webcam.
Jamin Moore: Meet Brayden Moore – your son.
Stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, with the First Calvary, Jamin Moore and the fellow members of his infantry unit deployed to Iraq on May 21st for a seven month tour of duty. While there he was stationed near Balad, Iraq, which is in the northern part of the country approximately 50 miles from Baghdad; and is a Shiite community of approximately 100,000 people.
While there serving his country, Jamin Moore couldn’t help but allow his thoughts to wander back to Switzerland County, where his wife, Stephanie, was pregnant with the couple’s first child.
He was serving at a the Forward Operating Base Paliwoda – formerly known as FOB Eagle, when he found out that everyone had gone to the hospital for the birth.
On August 31st, Brayden Moore entered the world – and dad saw his son via a webcam.
“I called home and got my mom,” Jamin Moore said from the family living room. “She was like, ‘I can’t talk to you right now, because your son is being born.'”
Once Brayden was born, Jamin called back and got to talk to his wife and mother.
And that’s when the waiting began.
“I got to see him through a webcam and with pictures, but I couldn’t wait to get home and actually see him,” Jamin Moore said. “It was exciting.”
Finishing his tour of duty in Iraq, Jamin Moore returned to the United States on December 14th, but was unable to see family members of get leave until now.
On Sunday afternoon, his plane landed at the Indianapolis airport with many family members waiting there in support.
But he was only looking for one person.
A really tiny fellow – who happened to be holding a “Welcome Home, Daddy” sign.
“It was awesome,” Jamin Moore said.
Brayden Moore chewed on his fingers and smiled.
Now back at the home of Jamin’s mom and stepdad, Cindy and Mitch Barnes, the family is now reunited during Jamin Moore’s 21 day leave. He will then be returning to Fort Hood for more training – and is expecting to return to Iraq sometime within the coming year.
Stephanie and Brayden will stay behind here in Switzerland County for awhile until Jamin Moore gets things in order, but will soon be joining him in Texas.
“Then I’m the one who’s going to need a webcam,” Cindy Barnes said.