EXCHANGE: 2 Illinois Army recruits kept in touch, married
WATSEKA, Ill. (AP) - Cortney Adams and Danny Carmona enlisted in the Army together, pledging to protect the United States. On Sunday, the young couple from Iroquois County made a vow to each other. They got married.
The newlyweds hadn't seen each other in nearly six months before they got married. Cortney, 18, from Watseka, was stationed in South Carolina, and Danny, 20, from Ashkum, was stationed a state away in Georgia.
They were in basic training together for two weeks in South Carolina, but were unable to see each other since they were in different units. Tested by the military, their love for each other stayed strong. After all, those six months represent about one-third of their relationship.
"You have your drill sergeants and peers telling you, 'It's dumb. You need to be done with them. They don't care about you,'" Cortney said. "But in my heart, I knew Danny cared about me. I knew he loved me."
"A lot of relationships don't survive in the Army," Danny added. "Soldiers get letters from significant others, but they often end up breaking it off. We're stronger than that."
The couple corresponded through letters after they enlisted in June. Around Thanksgiving, a three-page letter opened a new chapter in their lives. In that letter, Danny proposed.
"I wanted to propose right away," he said with a laugh. "She wasn't supposed to read that third page at first, but it all came together, and we're happy."
Within a month, the couple's families quickly arranged a wedding at the Watseka Theater. Danny donned his honorary military uniform, and Cortney walked down the aisle in a white dress.
"This wedding not only signifies our love for each other," Cortney said after the wedding, "It also signifies how much our families care about us."
"We couldn't have done this without our families," Danny added. "It's amazing to have been able to do this in front of our friends and family."
After New Year's, the couple will be separated for six more weeks, as they return to their respective units. In February, they'll move to Fort Schofield in Hawaii, where they'll be stationed together for at least three years.
That has the couple, who met at Kankakee Community College about a year and a half ago, excited.
"It means a lot," Danny said. "It's hard to put words to it."
"There's really no words to describe it," Cortney added. "It'll be just like the times before the military, but we're in the military together. The most important thing is we're together."
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Source: The (Kankakee) Daily Journal, http://bit.ly/1JHLQZ4