Lynn soldier: ‘I love everything’ about National Guard

LYNN – Stuart Conti had to convince his mother it was a good idea to join the Massachusetts National Guard, even though he always knew he would end up serving his country.”I was actually going to do it right after high school, but I kind of got talked out of it,” Conti said during an interview this week in his parents’ home before heading back to Afghanistan today.”My mother was kind of nervous about it,” Conti, a private first class, said. “She wasn’t really huge on me getting in.”But after he started college, Conti decided the time was right to join.His mother liked the education benefits he receives, but the most important thing to Conti is the camaraderie he shares with his fellow infantrymen.”I wouldn’t have joined any other branch,” Conti said about his decision to serve in the infantry as opposed to other branches of the military. “I love it, I love the camaraderie, everything about it. All the discipline, everything we have to do to be as productive and effective as we are.”Conti is stationed at FOB Moralez-Frazier in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan, where he and other members of his unit provide security for the Reconstruction Team that is working to rebuild parts of the country, he said.Conti and his unit will scout out locations to make sure the area is safe before allowing the engineers and other members of the reconstruction team to leave their vehicles.”Generally, we can get out of the trucks, talk to somebody and we can feel if it’s safe,” he said. “And then we’ll let everyone else know.”Safety is always on the mind of Conti’s parents, Susan and Arn Conti.”My wife and I just wait to hear from him. Our life is basically on hold,” Arn Conti said as he sat next to his son Monday. “We go to work and come home and hope we hear from him that night. If we don’t, we hope (it’s) the next night. My wife sends him a package every week ? It’s kind of like another job for my wife actually.”Arn Conti said he gets “panic attacks” if he doesn’t hear from his son every two to three days.”I don’t see how people did it during the old days, like Vietnam or Korea, World War II, where they’d (the soldiers would) take off for a year or two and they’d never really hear from them,” he said. “I couldn’t deal with that. Thank God for technology. All I need to do is hear his voice or get a quick text saying he’s okay. That’s good enough for us.”But the soldier’s father also stressed how proud he is of his son and noted that both of Conti’s grandfathers served in the military, establishing a tradition of military service.”But obviously as a parent, I’m very concerned for his safety, but he’s well-trained and he’s a big boy and a grown man and he wanted to do this and it’s his decision and we’re supporting him,” his father said.Conti, who began his tour in August, said he has gotten used to dealing with the danger on the ground in Afghanistan.”The first two weeks ? you’re real nervous,” Conti said. “But after that, you get used to it. You know that the guy next to you has your back and you start getting comfortable and the unit meshes and works well together.”Carl DiMaiti, the principal of St. Mary’s High School in Lynn where Conti graduated from in 2006, is not surprised to hear that his former student cherishes the camaraderie he’s experienced in the military.Calling Conti “one of the happiest kids I’ve ever encountered in my years at St. Mary’s,” DiMaiti said the 22-year-old excelled at team sports and thrived in that type of environment.The school graduates about 140 people each year and there’s always a few who decide to join the military.”More and more over my tenure, which is 11 years, I hear boys and girls talking about a career in the military,” the principal said. “For so long the country was at peace, but now with the conflicts we’re involved in, it’s really stirred a sense of patriotism.”DiMaiti knew about Conti’s desire to join the military and said he was both “proud and apprehensive” about Conti’s decision to serve.”I certainly a