When missiles shot into Baghdad last night, two Wells families sat together, watching the television closely.

First Lieutenant Joshua Hansen’s family and in-laws are praying for his safe return.

Joshua is a first lieutenant in the third infantry division of the Army. He was deployed on March 4. His wife Beth has been keeping close to the television to see what her husband might be doing. ABC’s Ted Koppel is with the third infantry, so she watches that channel with intense interest.

&uot;They will be the first ground troops in,&uot; she explained. He and his platoon are expected to move into Iraq soon after initial air strikes are finished.

She said she expected the start of the war early Thursday morning, Iraq time.

&uot;I wasn’t surprised,&uot; she said. &uot;The 48 hours were up.&uot;

Beth had talked with Joshua on Monday, and he said his platoon was prepared.

&uot;They’ve been waiting,&uot; she said. &uot;I think they are ready to go.&uot;

Beth and Joshua grew up in Wells, both graduated from USC high school, and both went to Mankato State University. They were married last summer and live in Texas.

Since 2001 they have lived on the Fort Hood Army base outside of Killeen, Texas. In anticipation of Joshua’s deployment, the couple decided that it would be best for Beth to move home with her parents while he was away. Joshua’s parents also live in Wells.

Beth moved in with her parents just one day before Joshua’s deployment. She said she was happy to be back with her family.

&uot;I wanted to get back home,&uot; she said. Beth said she talks with Joshua’s parents daily and sees them almost as much. That helps, she says. She also said she thought getting off of the base helped because the constant topic of conversation is the war.

&uot;All you hear there is rumors,&uot; she said. &uot;I wanted to get away from that.&uot;

Hansen said that she has many friends on base who can contact her easily if anything happens or to give her updates.

So what are her feelings while waiting for word?

&uot;Nervous would be a good word to describe it,&uot; she said.

Hansen, in talking with her husband, thinks that the war should end within six months. She is excited to see him again and get back to their married life, which is not yet a year old.

&uot;Hopefully, the next time we see each other, the world will be a much better place,&uot; she said.

In Ellendale, another family has a loved one abroad.

Gwen Reiss, who owns Albert Lea’s Turtle Dove Tea House, has a son, Brandon, who is a nuclear propulsion mechanical engineer on a Navy submarine, The San Juan, a fast-attack Boomer.

Brandon has served for almost nine years. He recently was sent to the Middle East in the submarine. Every once in a while, he surfaces somewhere in Turkey, Greece or Italy, and he calls his family.

Gwen wears a bracelet that her son sent to her from Italy. She said she would wear it until the war was over. She also will put on a Navy pin each day during the war.

She had been communicating with her son each time he surfaced, but she says that it could be a while before his submarine surfaces again.

When they do talk, the conversation is always about what is going on in Freeborn County, rather than what is going on in the Persian Gulf region.

Gwen says she has her son in her prayers.

&uot;It’s all in God’s hands,&uot; she said. &uot;Hopefully he’ll spare the good guys.&uot;