Beth Nelson

CALEDONIA - Beth Nelson was elated when her daughter-in-law
called to invite her for Thanksgiving.

This will be the first Thanksgiving in four years that Beth Nelson has
spent with her son, Tyler.

Tyler Nelson, 25, has spent the past three Thanksgivings overseas.

Three years ago he was stationed at an Army base in Vicenza, Italy
preparing for deployment to Afghanistan with the 173rd Airborne.

The next year, he was in Afghanistan, where he awoke to the sound
of mortar blasts, he would tell his mother during a Thanksgiving Day
chat.

Last year, he was back in Vicenza, safe and sound, thankful that he
would soon be heading back to the states after a 14-month tour
of duty.

Beth Nelson has no idea what she'll do this Thanksgiving when she
travels to Colorado Springs, Colo., to be with her son, his wife
and their 5-month-old son. She doesn't care.

"What we're going to do out there, it doesn't matter. We're together,"
she said.

Sitting comfortably in a recliner in the living room of her Caledonia home,
tears start to form in the corners of Beth Nelson's eyes, but they
don't fall. She gets emotional as she talks about her son.

Beth Nelson has a lot to be thankful for. Sure, she's thankful for the
normal stuff - she has a job, a home, her health.

As a Blue Star Mom, Nelson has the support of a network of women who live with the worry that accompanies a
loved-one's military service. She's thankful for that, too.

Most importantly, she's thankful that her son is alive.

Tyler Nelson made it out of a volatile region of Afghanistan, his mother said, where they averaged one battle a week.

Some of the people he served with didn't.

Beth Nelson says her son has a guardian angel, his friend, Evan Bixler. Tyler and Evan played Ghostbusters together
growing up in Racine.

After high school, they both decided they would join the Army. Their mothers couldn't quite figure out why their two
sweet little boys would want to put themselves in harm's way.

For both Tyler and Evan, it was a calling, Beth Nelson said. They both went through the same basic training at Fort Benning, Ga.

Evan went on to serve in Iraq, where he was killed while on duty.

The two mothers were friends before, watching their sons grow up, active in the PTA. Now Lisa Bixler is Beth Nelson's inspiration.

"I have less fear of my son going over to Afghanistan because of her, when people would think it would be the opposite.
She's given me strength. She's opened my eyes up to many things," Beth Nelson said.

Beth Nelson said she likes traditions. She might like to consider this Thanksgiving the start of a new one for her family, but she
doesn't like to look too far ahead.

This time next year, Tyler Nelson will likely be back in Afghanistan.

She's thankful that her son has moved up the ranks.

He's now a sergeant, E-5. He traded a gunner turret atop a Humvee for a job working on computer security.

"I'm just going to be thankful for this Thanksgiving that we can be together," Beth Nelson said.

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