Donna Henson, an advocate for families of deployed soldiers, was speechless thinking of her husband and “baby” going to Afghanistan this fall.

Henson works at the U.S. Army Reserve 412th Engineering Command where her husband, Sgt. Paul Henson, 48, and son Spc. Andrew Henson, 19, drill.

“There’s not a moment during the day that we’re not thinking about each other,” she said.

She gets text messages of love from them every day, she said.

Henson said extended family, friends, co-workers and fellow church members will help her adjust to the soldiers’ being away for a year on their first tour.

“It’ll take some praying, but God will get me through this. He will get them through this,” she said.

The soldiers agreed — “It’ll be neat” — to deploy together in Operation Enduring Freedom.

“We’ll have contact probably on a day-to-day basis,” said Paul Henson. But, he does not think they will work in the same place.

He laughed and said, “Wherever the plane lands, and they open the doors, that’s where we’re going to get off.”

The sergeant will work as a technical engineer surveying land and gathering soil samples.

Andrew Henson, who signed up in 2007, is a wheel-vehicle mechanic. He will repair or drive vehicles.

They will also help pave dirt roads, drill water wells for villages, develop construction skills of villagers and confirm construction supplies are sent to units, Lt. Col. Mark Leighton, operations officer, said.

Leighton said he expects the Hensons to be as attentive to detail while supporting OEF as with maintaining equipment in Vicksburg.

“I expect them to, not only meet the standard given to them, but exceed that standard,” he said.

The Hensons contract with the Engineering Research and Development Center on Halls Ferry Road and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the mat-sinking units on the Port of Vicksburg through their family-owned H and H Marine Services.

The business will shut down until the soldiers return, Paul Henson said.

“A couple of months before we come back, we’ll start looking for contracts to have some work lined up,” he said.

His wife said she is proud of the sacrifice her family is making.

“It takes a special person to leave their country,” she said. “They want to do their share.”

Her husband joined the 412th in 1980 for six years and again in 2003 with his older son, Spc. Paul Henson III.

The sergeant has been called twice but was cut from deployment listings, he said.

Paul Henson III, a human resources specialist and wheel-vehicle mechanic, will not join his father and brother in Afghanistan.

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Contact Tish Butts at tbutts@vicksburgpost.com