Sioux Center soldier home in time for Christmas

This story, written by Eric Sandbulte, was originally published in the Sioux Center News.

Sioux Center soldier Shane Kramer got exactly what he wanted for Christmas this year: to be home in time to celebrate the holiday with his wife, Kelsey, and two children after 10 months of military service overseas.

The 33-year-old Sioux Center resident has returned from his third deployment with the 34th Infantry Division of the Minnesota Army National Guard. Tired and still in uniform, the longer-than-expected journey back home did nothing to diminish the smile on his face as he embraced his 4-year-old daughter Ellie and 2-year-old son Marik when he got off the plane at Sioux Falls Regional Airport Dec. 14.

He had mentally prepared himself for the different reactions the kids might have, including a bit of fear or uncertainty about him despite the frequent phone calls and video chats, after being away for so long.

“They were like, ‘I don’t know if I should give him a hug or not,’ but eventually they did,” Shane said. “This last week has been gauging their trust and getting that back up. They still think that every time I leave outside the door, I’m not coming back. I’m trying to show them that I’m staying home now.”

They quickly warmed up to him again, though, starting with the ride back home from the airport. Shane rode in the back seat between Ellie and Marik in their car seats.

“I don’t think the hugs stopped the whole way home,” Shane said. “Ellie was holding onto my hand and then she’d stop and look at me and then give me a hug and say, ‘I missed Dad.’ Then Marik was just sitting there, taking it in, just talking the whole time.”

With everyone home again, the Kramers planned a simple Christmas to welcome him back. They went to his family in Luverne, Minnesota, on Christmas Eve and then had people over to their house on Christmas Day for a meal.

It’s all part of the process of adjusting to civilian life, which can be difficult for many people. An important goal he has for himself is building up the bonds of fatherhood with Ellie and Marik again.

Shane, now a facilities and maintenance worker at Dordt University in Sioux Center, joined the Minnesota Army National Guard in January 2009, following inspiration from his cousin and mentor, Matthew Miller.

“When my parents divorced, he was like my father figure, and he told me the military would probably work really well for me. He died in a farming accident when I was in high school before I could join,” Shane said.

Now a sergeant first class, Shane spent the first part of 2024 in Kuwait working with signal support systems as a noncommissioned officer in charge.

“It’s a fancy word for the help desk, the people that deal with people. I was in charge of all the said people, which is around 30 people. I was in charge of the help desk, which was in charge of the whole area of operations,” Shane said.

That work also dealt with overseeing telecommunications work and work on correspondence packets. The correspondence packets are a part of the overseas purchasing process that the military uses to handle orders of such items as cellphones, headsets, mice, and keyboards.

Later in the year, he went to Bahrain and gained a new responsibility as a victim advocate in addition to his regular work.

“Victim advocacy worked with sexually assaulted and harassed personnel, which did add more to my plate. Sadly, that stuff does happen overseas, and they need support for that,” he said.

Before his unit was sent out, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had informed them of the goal to have every member of the Minnesota National Guard return home before Christmas. That seemed like a far-fetched promise.

“There are a few people who are still back there because of medical reasons and things like that, but for the most part, the personnel who could be home are home now,” Shane said. “He did pull through, and it does mean so much because I missed a lot of firsts. Now I get to see Ellie’s first Christmas program, I got to go to her school, I get to see Marik excited about his gifts and I get to spend the holidays with my wife.”

Kelsey was also thankful to have Shane back home in time for Christmas. It was a long journey for her as she went about her job and raising two young children on her own, and she knows it wasn’t easy for Shane to be gone for so long either.

With her faith and help from her parents, church and neighbors, she’s been able to get through Shane’s deployment.

“What has really gotten us through this last year has been the faith that this is where God put us, and He’s going to provide and get us through to the end,” Kelsey said. “And there was the support from our church and the prayers. I don’t know how the people who don’t have that stuff in their lives get through it. I would think it’s much harder. But definitely by the grace of God and the prayers gave us strength every day we needed it to get to the next day.”

Shane’s trip back home did take some unexpected turns, however; what was supposed to be a day or day and a half trip back to the U.S. ended up taking almost three days thanks to extended delays and layovers.

“The first delay was that we didn’t have flight clearance,” Shane said. “And then it was the flight crew had to have their mandatory rest time right as we were about to leave. That delayed it another 12-18 hours. Then it started raining when we reached Texas. It seemed like anything that could happen, happened.”

That ordeal included having to stay at a Bulgarian hotel for about 12 hours.

Those challenges were quickly forgotten when he got to see his family in person once again after getting off the plane in Sioux Falls.

“It was the thing I was most looking forward to,” Shane said.