Relying on each other: A young, married couple will grow together from afar as he serves in Iraq.
January 21, 2008
Section: MAIN
Page: 01, 05
JOSEPH MALDONADO For the Daily Record/Sunday News
PIC: SUBMITTED Bill and Nikki Salisbury hurried to marry before his redeployment to Iraq, which has since been delayed. Nikki Salisbury said the last time Bill Salisbury was in Iraq, she e-mailed him every day.
Perhaps it wasn't love at first strike, that Thanksgiving Day in 2005.
But as Bill and Nikki Salisbury got to know each other between frames of bowling, it was clear something was there.
"He asked me out at the end of the evening," Nikki recalled. "We started hanging out, talking, and pretty soon, we were engaged."
Most of the talking in 2006 was long distance. Just three weeks after meeting, Bill, who serves full-time in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, was deployed to Iraq.
The couple had known each other less than two weeks when the orders came down. While her lieutenant husband is hesitant to say exactly what he did in Iraq for security reasons, he did say it was in the field of logistics and supply.
Since high school, Bill Salisbury, 25, has known he wanted to serve his country, he said. He was in the ROTC program at Shippensburg University until he graduated in 2004. His degree is in history. Nikki Salisbury, who works as a human resources specialist in Emigsville, said she is learning how to be an Army wife.
"The best part about it is when people are talking about how proud they are to support the troops," she said. "And I get this warm feeling because my husband is one of them."
The couple, who live in Conewago Township, agree that being apart during the early part of their relationship was difficult. Nikki said she e-mailed her then-boyfriend every day, sometimes many times a day.
"I told him everything that was going on," she said. "Everything."
He came home in September 2006 and proposed a month later.
Originally, the couple was supposed to have been married this month. But soon after setting the date, Bill learned he would be returning to Iraq.
"He was supposed to have left last month," said Nikki, 26.
So instead of waiting, the couple moved the date up and was married in March 2007. While the Salisburys have done their best to make the most of their time together, Bill is to return to Iraq later this year.
"It's never easy," Nikki said. "But at least this time, I will have a better idea of what to expect."
As a military wife, Nikki said, she also has access to helpful resources, including support groups.
"I have met some amazing people who have been married and military for 25 years," she said. "The strength of some of these families is incredible."
Now that he has a family of his own, Bill said, it has changed his leadership style.
"I'm definitely more understanding now," he said. "You don't truly realize the responsibility people feel toward their families while they are serving until you have a family of your own.
In time, the couple hopes to grow their family with children. But with so much of their early relationship divided by war, they say they will spend quality time just getting to know each other when Bill returns from Iraq in 2009.
And as he prepares to return to a war zone, he said the most important support he will receive will be from his new bride.
"It makes a difference being married," Bill said. "There is so much more to look forward to when it comes to thinking about coming home."
PIC: SUBMITTED Bill Salisbury is a lieutenant in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. He and his wife, Nikki, got married last March, and he will soon return to Iraq.
