Staff Writer

Standing at the Atlanta Airport on Thanksgiving Day as he arrived home on leave from Afghanistan, Spec. James Wicks Jr. at last got to hold his new son, Rasheed.

Rasheed, born Sept. 24, looked at his dad, closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Wicks, 23, had been met at the airport by his wife, Katrina, his other son, Javarious, who is 3, and Katrina's sister, Keshia Fuller.

“He looked at the baby and said, ‘He's big,' Mrs. Wicks said.

Indeed, Rasheed had doubled his birth weight, going from 6 pounds 13 ounces to 13 pounds, five ounces when his dad came home.

Wicks said it's good to be home with his family. He arrived at a particularly good time - along with the birth of his son, he celebrated the 50th birthday of his father, Sgt. James Wicks with the Union County Sheriff's Office and his wedding anniversary with Katrina.

He will be here until Dec. 9 when he returns to Kabul, where he works in a security detail and electronic warfare. He hopes to return home to Union in April or May. Prior to being activated to Afghanistan with the Union National Guard he worked with his father, James Sr., at Wicks Locksmith Service. He also worked at Pizza Hut and was a student at Spartanburg Methodist College, studying business administration and taking ROTC.

Since Wicks left home in May, Katrina and the rest of his family have stayed in contact with him through the Internet and cell phones.

“I was on the phone with him the first five minutes of labor,” Mrs. Wicks said. “Then I had to hang up. He kept going to sleep on me.”

Wicks said it was around 3:30 a.m. when his wife called him to tell him the baby was on the way.

Since Rasheed's birth, Mrs. Wicks has been putting his ear to the phone so he could hear his father's voice. When Wicks came home, it was like father and son already knew one another.

“We've been talking,” Wicks said. “I would say ‘Hey Rasheed,' and he said it back, ‘Hey.' He did it four or five times. It was amazing to me.”

Mrs. Wicks, 21, said that while her husband has been gone she has depended a lot on her in-laws for help - Dorethea and Eddie Salter and James and Judy Wicks.

“Sometimes it's hard, like when you have one crying and you are trying to get the other ready for school,” said Mrs. Wicks, who works at Liberty Tax Service.

Javarious adores his little brother.

“No one can have his brother but him,” Mrs. Wicks said. “He doesn't want anyone else to leave with Rasheed.”

Wicks said his time in Afghanistan has not been too bad and he appreciates the thoughtfulness of a Union person who sent him a care package that included flashlights, hygiene items, cookies, a card and a note.

“It's warm in the daytime and really cold at night and there is supposed to be snow on the ground when I get back,” Wicks said. “I can't really complain. There is a threat there, but not like in most areas.”

Conditions have improved in the six months he has been in Afghanistan, Wicks said, including more paved roads that help to decrease traveling time. He lives in an eight man “B-Hut.”

“We have Internet and cable in the room; it's not that big but you have your own personal area and you can dress it up however you want,” he said.