When Mary Ross laughs, her co-workers laugh. When Ross cries,
her co-workers cry.

For the past year, when Ross’ son Lachlan was fighting with the
U.S. Army in Iraq, when she needed support, her co-workers
supported her.

“They put up with me,” Ross said. “I would just get through the
day.”

But their support went beyond their working relationship at
Bradford Regional Medical Center’s Bradford Recovery Systems. It
went all the way to Iraq.

Spc. Lachlan Ross, who turns 21 next Sunday, is a member of the
172nd Stryker Brigade 4-23rd. He spent time in Kuwait, Mosal and
Anabar where his platoon had “great success,” his mom said.

He was supposed to return back to the states in August, but
those plans were changed. He was sent to Baghdad.

“Baghdad was not pretty, not to be taken,” Mary Ross said. “I
was losing it. I was angry.”

“I just got through the day to go home. It’s hard to not know.
Will this be my boy’s day (to die)? You don’t get to call it. Every
day out there he got shot at.”

When the troops were forced to stay, their morale, as well as
Ross’, plummeted.

“It’s been real hard there for these boys,” Ross said,
especially when their tour was extended. “Now (some) will never
come home. I can’t imagine what it was like for them.”

Her co-workers decided to do something about it. They collected
enough items such as food, candy and wipes for five boxes to be
divvied up for 80-90 soldiers.

“They were huge,” Ross said about the boxes with her arms
extended as far as they could go.

The boxes were sent over in October and included a lot of
Halloween treats for the troops.

“Everyone contributed,” Kristin Haight said. “Everyone was so
generous. There was no question.”

If people couldn’t contribute items, they contributed money to
help in shipping cost, which approached $200. As it turned out,
those five boxes meant a lot to Ross’ son and the others.

“It was a really good morale boost,” Ross said. It said “we are
supporting you.”

“That support, that acknowledgment that we still think of you is
so huge,” Ross said. “It’s not a likable war. They are losing
buddies over there. I just know that that support was huge.”

The soldiers were so taken by the gesture, they wanted to say
thank you. To say thank you, the soldiers sent back an American
flag with some of their signatures on it along with “Thank you
Bradford Recovery Systems.”

The flag, which will be displayed in the lobby of BRMC, was a
surprise for Ross and her co-workers.

“They took the time to thank us. They are at war,” Jackie
Shine-Dixon said. The flag will be a “continuous reminder for
us.”

“We have Mary for that,” another co-worker added.

After the flag is removed from the lobby, it will be framed and
placed in the BRS department.

When one of the co-workers mentions Ross taking the flag home,
she said “No. This is your guys’. This is your thank you.”

Ross, along with her husband Tom, got a greater gift.

After not hearing from Lachlan in a week, she finally got a call
in November. He was in Kuwait.

“So I knew he wasn’t being shot at every day. He was in the line
of fire every day.”

To know her son is out of Iraq has been an early Christmas
present for Ross.

“I can’t tell you. It’s like 100 lbs. have been lifted off my
shoulders … I am sleeping now. I’m not as angry as much.”

Throughout the year Lachlan has been in Iraq, Ross’ co-workers
helped her.

When Ross would get a call from Lachlan, there was no question
when she was late to work so she could talk with her son. He was
always on her mind. The message on the answering machine included
“Lachlan, if this is you, I love you.”

Now that Lachlan is out of Iraq, Ross is getting back to her old
self.

“It’s good to have Mary back,” Carol Taylor said.

Currently, Lachlan is in Alaska and is expected to come home to
Bradford for a visit later this month. He still has another year to
serve.

“This has been a hard year,” Ross said. And of her
co-workers.

“They were awesome. They are awesome.”