Photos by Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Teresa Burgis hugs her son, Chris Hetherington, a 2007 Pulaski County High School graduate who now serves with the Army's 82nd Airborne unit. Before his deployment, which could come as soon as this week, family members treated him to an early Christmas.

Chris Hetherington, 19, makes the most of one of his favorite pastimes, playing the guitar, during a family gathering last month.

Chris Hetherington takes a brownie from his stepmother, Leslie Hetherington, in his family's home in Montgomery County. His Christmas gifts included a camera and money.

CHRISTIANSBURG -- When Chris Hetherington came home for a visit nearly three weeks before Thanksgiving, he found a Christmas tree in the living room.

The 19-year-old soldier with the Army's 82nd Airborne, stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., was a little taken aback by the sight.

But on this Christmas morning, when the Hetheringtons gather around the tree to exchange presents, Chris won't be at home.

By then, the 2007 Pulaski County High School graduate and his unit expect to be among the 146,000 U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq. At its height, the coalition numbered about 300,000 soldiers from 38 countries. October saw a peak of 170,000 U.S. soldiers, but that number has since declined, according to The Associated Press.

Hetherington expected to have deployed before Thanksgiving, but in the military, exact deployment dates are subject to change. Today, Hetherington remains on standby and could be deployed as early as the end of this week.

So when he received time off for Veterans Day, the Hetherington family decided to celebrate Christmas a little early.

"We decided that Christmas was in our heart ... so we had 'Chris Christmas,' " stepmother Leslie Hetherington said.

She shopped around everywhere to find red, white and blue decorations to make the Christmas tree patriotic. It is topped with a yellow bow, symbolic of wishes for Chris Hetherington's safe return.

On Nov. 9, the Sunday before Veterans Day, 30 family members and friends gathered at the Hetheringtons' residence in Christiansburg for an early Christmas party.

"That was pretty cool. It felt a lot like a real Christmas," Chris Hetherington said.

The family described the mood of the party as "surprisingly cheerful," in light of the circumstances surrounding it.

They ate ham, deviled eggs, chicken wings, Christmas cookies and other food, while watching a slide show of pictures of Chris Hetherington's life -- chronicling his military career from the day he left for basic training fresh out of high school all the way up to more recent photos, put together by his stepsister, Lauren Sutphin.

But the cheerful mood turned somber when Chris Hetherington picked up his guitar, one of his favorite pastimes, and played one of his favorite bluegrass songs, "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show.

As he strummed the notes and sang, the lyrics struck a chord. The song details the journey of a man leaving home and traveling to various places, including North Carolina and Roanoke.

Chris Hetherington was the only person to receive gifts -- a digital camera, because he loves to take pictures and video, and "a lot of money," he said. Family members knew he can't take much with him to Iraq, so money was the best gift option, they said.

Chris Hetherington enlisted in the Army while still a high school senior and left for basic training soon after graduating in 2007.

He specializes in communications and said his job involves either setting up or fixing systems so that soldiers are able to communicate with ease.

His family jokes that he has no excuse for not staying in touch while deployed.

"With today's Army, they've got more communication than in the past," said his father, Wayne Hetherington.

But family members said they will be satisfied just seeing that his status on the MySpace social networking site has changed, so they know he's OK.

Not only is this Chris Hetherington's first tour of Iraq, it is his family's first experience with military life.

"We're new to this. ... We've had to learn everything on our own," Leslie Hetherington said.

Though the family is concerned for Chris Hetherington's well-being and has gone through the tedious process of making arrangements for him to leave, the biggest strain has been the uncertainty of when he will be deployed.

Family members said they have taken days off work so they could drive to Fort Bragg to see him off, only to later learn that the deployment date had been pushed back again.

Though Leslie Hetherington said she doesn't mind if the Army keeps changing his deployment date -- as long as it is later than sooner -- she knows that her luck will soon run out.

"Let's put it this way, his bags are packed," she said.

"But they've been packed," Sutphin quickly chimed in.

And Chris Hetherington said he, more than anyone, has grown weary of the "waiting game."

"I'm actually just ready to get it over with," he said.

His mother, Teresa Burgis of Pulaski, said she wishes that day would never come. When her son leaves, Burgis said she will have to find ways to keep herself distracted.

"My youngest son plays basketball, so I'll use basketball to try to take my mind off it," she said.

Sutphin said the fact that her stepbrother could be deployed to Iraq any day now makes the fact that he's a soldier "more real."

Family members say they take solace in the fact that Chris Hetherington will be around familiar faces overseas and that the soldiers in the unit will be looking out for one another.

In Iraq, Chris Hetherington knows he won't see the family photos, Santa Claus candles or smiling faces of family that he saw Nov. 9. While not quite home, he plans to make the most of the holiday.

"I'm sure they'll have parties or a celebration of their own. ... I heard they actually have some pretty good food over there," he said.

Leslie Hetherington said that she is thinking about keeping the Christmas tree up until her stepson returns. Totally new to the military lifestyle, she said that this experience will be arduous for the entire family.

With the waiting game soon to be over when Chris Hetherington deploys, a new one will begin -- waiting for his return. In the meantime, the family's new favorite song, "Wagon Wheel," may provide some comfort.

"I have copies of it," Leslie Hetherington said. "When he's gone I will be playing that song a lot."