By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



The family and friends of Maj. Jim McCool thought he would never get home from Afghanistan.

It wasn’t the year he spent there, but the last six hours when he couldn’t get from Atlanta to Birmingham.

Originally scheduled to arrive in Birmingham just after 5 p.m. Thursday, McCool ended up losing out on four standby flights from Atlanta.

Meanwhile, about 20 family members and friends were waiting at the Birmingham International Airport with signs ready to welcome him home.

Finally, McCool accepted a ride from four women who work for HealthSouth. The five finally arrived in Birmingham around 11 p.m. in a rental car.

Even the four strangers were teary-eyed when McCool embraced his wife of 17 years, Bebe, and their 4-year-old son, C.J.

The crowd of family and friends were still there too, determined to see a patriot make it safely home.

“When I saw him and knew he was safe, it was like a burden had been lifted and prayers had been answered,” said McCool’s mother, Pat McCool.

McCool, 42, enlisted in the Alabama National Guard when he was 17 years old.

He was inspired to join the military because he grew up seeing his father, Max McCool, serve his country as a U.S. Navy serviceman.

“I grew up around that, so I wanted to serve too,” said McCool.

McCool was enlisted for several years, then became an officer in 1997 when he went active duty.

He is assigned to Joint Force Headquarters in Montgomery. He typically stays in Montgomery during the week and goes back home to Morris on weekends. He took a 30-day leave before he will return to work in Montgomery.

Before flying to Afghanistan, McCool trained at Fort Riley, Kansas, to work with the Afghan national army and police.

“But when I got there, the mission changed,” he said. He spent his time in Afghanistan serving as a personnel officer for a 1,200-person organization. He managed leave, awards, evaluations, promotions, strength levels and other personnel matters.

“Being away from my family was the hardest part,” McCool said. “My job wasn’t that bad.”

His time in Afghanistan was his first long-term overseas deployment.

On Monday, after being home only four days, McCool said he had not encountered any major readjustments to getting back home.

“I’ll go through an adjustment period where I’ll have to get used to a normal environment,” he said. “It’s a good feeling to be able to get out and do what you want and go where you want, when you want. It’s nice to be back in the good ol’ U.S. of A where you don’t have to think about roadside bombs.”

McCool’s wife also said there would be some readjustment on her end.

For the past year, she has relied on family more than ever.

“It’s been very difficult,” said Bebe McCool. “I couldn’t have done it without my family and his family. They have been life-savers.”

Bebe McCool, who teaches eighth-grade English at Hayden High School, said her father-in-law stepped in during the past year when things around the house needed repairs.

“Between the two of us, we usually figured everything out,” she said.

“One goal I had was I wanted to make sure C.J. didn’t forget his dad,” said McCool. “We talked about his dad every night and prayed for him every night.”

For the next few weeks, McCool said she and her husband and son were going to enjoy some family time.

“We’re going to go relax on the beach and build sand castles. We won’t be on a schedule,” she said.

Jim and Bebe McCool both wanted to express deep appreciation to family, friends and members of their church, Enon Baptist in Morris.

“A lot of prayers have been answered for his safe return,” said Bebe McCool.