A member of the 134th Air Control Squadron, the first Kansas National Guard unit deployed after the terrorist attacks, Jamvold knew it might be two years before she returned. The boy, who turns 10 next month, will stay with relatives.

''We put this uniform on and we're proud of what we do,'' said Jamvold, a 28-year-old single mother. ''And although the reason why I joined the military was more for the benefits, I knew 100 percent that this was a possibility. I am very proud the 134th is going to be the first unit in Kansas activated and I am ready to do whatever it is we need to do.''

Servicemen and women across the nation Saturday enjoyed a few hours with loved ones before preparing to respond to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Most could not say where they were going, what they would do, or when they would be home. They did not complain.

''Any of us that put on this military uniform, when we put it on we know what we are getting ourselves into,'' said Maj. Hans Heidhardt, a spokesman for Jamvold's unit. ''When the president calls and says it is time to go, we salute smartly and we go.''

Members of the 134th were called to base Friday to begin their preparations for deployment, including immunization shots and writing their wills.

Air Force mechanic Doug Schere had just two hours notice before he had to say goodbye to his family and ship out.

''The look on his face was very, very sad,'' Schere's mother-in-law, Kimberly Bell, said after he met his unit at Travis Air Force Base, northeast of San Francisco. ''It was a whole different demeanor.''

The Army's Special Forces Command at North Carolina's Fort Bragg said Thursday it has received a deployment order. But command spokesman Maj. Gary Kolb said there is other information about the coming conflict that the American public may never receive.

''What we don't want to do is put soldiers in harm's way unnecessarily,'' Korb said.

Near Fort Lewis Army Base outside Tacoma, Wash., Kimberly Harden worried about her boyfriend, the father of her child.

''I totally support everyone who has to go to war, but the only thing that scares me is the possibility that Charles might not make it back,'' she said.

In Oak Harbor, Wash., a city dominated by the 7,500 servicemen and women at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, Jennifer Redifer's husband just returned from a six-month deployment aboard the USS Constellation. But Redifer she said she'd be happy to send him back.

''You know what? Right now the country needs him more than I do,'' she said. ''I'll have him for the rest of my life. And I think that's pretty much how everyone feels.''