A soldier's visit home brightens holiday

A soldier’s visit home was the best holiday present of all for a Williams family.

Army Maj. Jerry Dunlap is headed to Germany this week after spending 10 days at home.

Dunlap, a 1987 graduate of Williams High School, is the son of Leedsville-area farmers Jerrett and Ellen Dunlap.

“It was wonderful having our entire family at home for Christmas,” said mother Ellen Dunlap. “There are 22 of us and it’s not often that we can all be together.”

Dunlap, 39, an attorney, has accepted a new position as primary legal adviser within the command of the Judge Advocate General, or JAG, a military office popularized by a television program by the same name.

“I’m excited about the new position,” he said. “I joke about flying around in jets with beautiful women. But that’s Navy, not Army. JAG is not like the show. That’s all Hollywood glamour.”

Dunlap made the military a career after graduating law school at Brigham Young University in Utah. He’s been in the service for 11 years.

Dunlap and wife, Tammy, have been married 17 years. The couple has three children, the oldest of whom will be attending high school as a junior in Vilseck, Germany.

“We spent five years in Germany previously,” Dunlap said. “My daughter is fluent in Germanand happy about the move. My youngest son is not as excited about going back.”

As career military, Dunlap said his family is used to the changes in his life. He just completed a stint in Army litigation in Washington, D.C. JAG, where his duty was primarily defending the Army against lawsuits and policy challenges, such as “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” and defending the court-martial process against military prisoners.

His family has been at his side during his military duty, except for his deployment in Iraq in 2004 during the second year of “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

Dunlap was stationed in Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein.

Dunlap said a great deal of progress has been made in Iraq. In addition to helping the country build back its infrastructure, such as bridges, roads and schools, the American military has helped Iraq develop a judicial system - free from a long history of corruption and threats against people’s lives.

“The Iraqi people are working to build what we have taken over 200 years to build ourselves,” Dunlap said. “It’s a long, difficult process. It’s going to take time. It’s just hard for Americans to be patient.”

Dunlap said Iraq is a far different country today, especially for the military personnel stationed there.

“It’s far more secure, which is evident by the drop in fatalities,” he said. “The numbers are very compelling.”

Dunlap is one of four children home for the holidays with their families. His brother has only recently returned to the area from Idaho.

“Christmas was great,” Dunlap said. “It’s been about six years since we’ve been together.”

Although its hard to see her son go back to Germany, Ellen Dunlap said she is happy about the choice he made in his military career.

“We keep in touch and visit when we can,” she said. “I so proud of him. I’m proud of all my children.”