The shock of learning that her son may be fighting in the Gulf War still has not really hit MSA teacher Margaret DiGiacomo - and she is sure it won't until she receives that final phonecall from him to tell her he is leaving for Kuwait.

Jason DiGiacomo, himself a former MSA student, will turn 22 in August.

On graduating from MSA in 1999, his mother said he tried a semester at the Bermuda College, but decided it was not for him - and with an American father who is a retired major in the US Army reserves, it was not long before Jason decided he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. "He left Bermuda in 2000," Mrs. DiGiacomo said. Jason went to Fort Still in Oklahoma, where he remains today as the ammunition team chief in charge of the crew supplying rounds to a self-propelled Howitzer tank. The crew drives behind the tank.

Up for promotion from a specialist to a sergeant, Jason is attached to the Second Battalion of the Fifth Field Artillery - a group which although stationed in Oklahoma are supporting the Third Armoured Cavalry Regiment stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado.

"I really didn't think he would be going (to fight in the Gulf)," said his mother. "I didn't think his outfit would be going at all." Then, however, Jason received orders that his outfit would be leaving for Kuwait - orders dated for March 15.

"It was a great shock," said his mother. "Oh gosh, I cried."

To Mrs. DiGiacomo's relief, however, her son phoned both on Tuesday night and last night to say he was still in Oklahoma.

But now the family waits in an awful state of limbo, for it seems at any moment Jason could be mobilised for Kuwait.

"When he called on Tuesday he hadn't heard anything yet ... Every time the phone rings at home I wonder if it's him calling to say he's leaving," said Ms DiGiacomo.

Last night Jason still did not know when - if ever - he would be leaving for Kuwait.

When asked if her son was nervous, Mrs. DiGiacomo replied: "He doesn't say much ... He seems fine, he seems to be OK." Last night, she added, her son sounded: "Pretty upbeat - he sounded good.

"His older brother (Daniel) is in Tennessee and he visited him about two weeks ago, spent the weekend with him. He said he seemed to be good."

"He's ready," said Jason's father, Robert DiGiacomo. "He knows he has to do a job.

"I know he's well trained and will carry himself well. I'm very proud of him - he chose not to sit on a wall but to do something."

Adding that it was Jason who did the research and made the decision to join the army, the retired major said he last spoke to his son about three nights ago. "Naturally I'm concerned," he said.

"But let's face it, he's 21 so he's probably less worried than his father of almost 50."

Mrs. DiGiacomo said she and her family are not focusing on the politics of the war, just on Jason and the safety of the troops.

"They've been very helpful (at MSA) also," she said. "Everyone's been supportive, most of the teachers had taught him while he was here - they're all kind of invested in it as well.

"He has a twin sister, Kristen, in her last year at college - she's nervous.

"They have a bond ... she's worried about him, and trying to finish off her last semester. They call each other but the last time she saw him was at Christmas.

"He surprised us on Christmas Eve and came home ... I was sitting in the church at midnight mass and he walked in."

Jason was home for less than a week, leaving for Oklahoma again on January 30. "That was the last time I saw him too," said Mrs. DiGiacomo.

Despite everything, Mrs. DiGiacomo is not against the war in Iraq. "I think the way the people in Iraq have been treated, it's a terrible thing.

"For someone who has a son fighting, it's a hard thing - but I know something has to be done."