Gina Barth goes about her work in the business office of Jameson Health System in New Castle with a heavy heart, but a patriotic spirit, as she waits for word that her son has been deployed to Iraq.

Her office, decorated by co-workers with flags and yellow ribbons as well as a picture collage of her 23-year-old son, Aaron, gives her comfort throughout her day.

"I thank God every day while he's still on U.S. soil," the Sharpsville woman said of her son, a 1998 graduate of Sharpsville High School. He enlisted with the Army 2èyears ago. "But he's been trained to be a soldier and that is what he is."

Barth was supposed to ship out Friday from Fort Hood in Texas, but his mother had not heard word of that as of Friday afternoon. "I was told that I may not hear the day of, that I might hear after the fact," she said.

She said that though she has dealt with the initial shock of learning that he was scheduled to go to Iraq, the waiting for word of his departure has been very hard. "Once you start watching the TV, you get emotional. We've got to be thankful that we haven't had that many casualties, especially since thousands and thousands of our troops are over there," Ms. Barth said. "I know he's anxious to go -- very anxious to be over there."

Ms. Barth described her son as someone who likes to have fun, "the class clown, a daredevil. He likes the fast pace. He's basically a very good kid."

Her son had was supposed to go to Korea this month, but requested that he stay with his division in the 4th Infantry. "He said it's like a brotherhood," she said, adding that Korea might not have been much safer, in light of world events.

Barth is trained to drive a M88A2 Improved Tank Recovery Vehicle or HERCULES (Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lift and Evacuation System), which his mother described as "basically like a tanker. He is the driver of that and will be with three other soldiers (inside it) at all times."

She talked about the 507th Maintenance Company that took a wrong turn and was captured. "I told him, 'Stay close with the others. Don't be a leader, stay behind.' He assured me that they had the best technology," Ms. Barth said.

And though she was very thankful that a member of the 507th -- Pfc. Jessica Lynch of West Virginia -- was found alive, her story also brings up Ms. Barth's very real fear for her own son's well-being. " 'Oh my God,' I think, 'That could be my son' -- you just pray it doesn't happen. But he's in God's hands."

"I'm of the Catholic faith. You drift away for awhile sometimes, but I'm getting closer again," Ms. Barth said.

She also finds comfort in the kind words of friends and strangers. "Old friends I haven't heard from in years give you a call to see how you're doing. Everybody has been supportive here (at work)," she said. "To know everybody cares, that they're so kind and compassionate, means so much. People you don't even know come up to me and tell me they are praying for me and for him."

She encouraged those with family members in or on their way to the war in Iraq to get involved with a support group for encouragement.

As for those speaking out against the war, "That's America. It's freedom of speech. If they were in Iraq they couldn't speak up. I didn't want us to go to war, but I will be supportive of it," Ms. Barth said.

She said she and her two other children, Stephan, 28, and Stephanie, 22, as well as her own mother have been worried about Aaron, but all of them are very proud of him. "He's doing what he's wanted. He's a soldier now."

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Sherris Moreira-Byers at sbyers@sharonherald.com