Hallettsville farm family await return of sons

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

Leland Muehr U.S. Army Private Leonard Muehr U.S. Army Sergent

April 10, 2003 -- With the U.S. military involved with Operation Iraq Freedom, there is a mother and dad in Hallettsville and a young wife in Minnesota who are eagerly awaiting news from two soldiers.

At the farm of Janis and L.A. Muehr, the cattle still must be fed and cared for, and the hay must be cut and raked, but they are doing it without the help of two of their older sons, Army Sgt. Leonard A. Muehr, 28, and Pvt. Leland A. Muehr, 20.

Leonard is with the troops in Iraq, and Leland, after being on alert for some time in Germany, is awaiting deployment to Iraq in about three weeks.

Growing up on the farm, both men helped with the farm work and participated in FFA at Hallettsville High School. Each showed steers and commercial steers at the Houston Livestock Show.

The parents of five children, Janis and L.A., both reared on farms, have a cow/calf operation outside of Hallettsville, along with a custom hay operation. Each of their children has been reared on the farm, and has been taught what it takes to make the entire operation work.

Like many producer families, both Janis and L.A. work in outside jobs to help make ends meet. Janis is employed at the Lavaca County Tax Office, and L.A. works for M-G Farm Service Center in Weimar.

In late December, Janis said she and 13 other family members flew to Germany to attend the wedding of Leonard to Priya, a young woman he met in Germany. Priya attends college in Minnesota and is studying to become a band director, but was reared in Germany in a military family.

About two weeks after the marriage, Leonard shipped out, and Priya returned to the States to attend college. Due to a death in the family in March, Priya flew to Texas to attend the funeral, and was introduced to the Muehr farm.

"While she was here, we went out and looked at the cattle herd. She took notes about which calf belonged to which cow. She was so excited! She said, 'I'm going to make brownie points!'" laughed Janis.

The bride used that information to let Leonard know she was interested in where he came from and where they might be going, after he retires from the Army, since he's decided to make a career of the military.

Growing up, Leonard was responsible for a lot of the hay operations when his dad was working in the oilfield. "He did a lot of the hay (work.) He could cut, bale, rake ... did the whole works ... he ran the operation," said Janis.

Leonard still has cows on his parents farm and his dad cares for them while he is in the military, but he does send money home to help pay for their feed.

The day of the interview, Janis had received a call from Priya, letting her know that Leonard had called from Iraq.

"She (Priya) said she got to talk to him on the phone ... which was the first time since before the war started, and she said he sounded good, positive and busy," noted Janis. "I asked her some questions, and she said she didn't get a whole lot out of him. She said she didn't want to jeopardize him and she didn't know exactly what kind of connection he was making with her - whether it was one that was being monitored."

Leonard is a generator mechanic who works on equipment to supply power to the laptop computers being used in the war.

Janis said before Leonard was deployed to Kuwait for a training mission in November, his "soon to be" mother-in-law wanted to tell him something that would encourage and sustain the young man throughout whatever situation should arise. She quoted the Bible from the book of Isaiah, Chapter 55, verses 8-12. It talks about coming out of Babylon with peace, and that is something the entire family is holding on to as their young men advance with the troops.

Leland joined the Army about a week after high school graduation in May 2002, and works in truck maintenance. Janis said his brother encouraged him to "join up," but he's not sure if a military career and retirement is in his future.

For now, he has a little over three years to complete his enlistment.

Back home, Janis and L.A. will continue to care for the animals and farm and the two younger children, Lamont A., 14, and Laura A., 13. Layton A., 25, a Texas A&M University grad, will continue to work in Houston. Priya will continue her college education. Life will go on.

But the eyes and ears of all the Muehrs will be attentive to the news, and the prayers for the safe return of their sons and others will be repeated until they have them safely home, again.