One picture shows a smiling young man, barely out of his teens, carefree and casual. Another, more formal picture shows the more serious face of that same young man.

Now, he is dressed in a Naval uniform, the American Flag standing behind him. His grandmother knows that when the young man comes home to visit her, he will be a different person than when he left. War changes boys into men, she said.

Ironton residents Naomi Deer and her daughter, Vicki Allen, spend their days watching television, watching for any glimpse of the U.S.S. Constell-ation. Heath Deer, Naomi Deer's grandson and Allen's nephew, whom she helped to raise, is on that aircraft carrier, somewhere in the Persian Gulf.

"He's an airman apprentice," Allen said proudly. "I'm very proud of him."

Allen said when Heath Deer signed up for the military right out of high school, she didn't think he would be going to war, and neither did he.

"We pray a lot," Allen said. "I think our faith is going to get us through. I think he's doing the right thing. We've put him in God's hands."

Naomi Deer said she and Allen call the U.S. Navy's 800- number for service families twice a week to get the latest updates on the Constellation crew.

"When I think of Heath I still see that little boy running around as he was growing up," Naomi Deer said.

Heath Deer graduated from Rock Hill High School in 2000. Allen said she encouraged him to either join the military or go to college.

"I wanted him to do something constructive," Allen said. "He chose the military. He went in in June after he graduated."

Heath Deer is now among the 5,000 people on board the Constellation, making sure the aircraft used in the war with Iraq - and their pilots - are well cared for.

"He said it's like a city afloat," Allen said. "It has its own hospital, its own post office. And he said the food was gourmet."

While it worries them that one of their own is in harm's way, both aunt and grandmother are convinced that what he is doing is important.

"They're dealing with an insane madman," Allen said. "He (Saddam Hussein) is ruthless, barbaric, even to his own people. They will probably feel very different when they get out from under him."

Allen said in light of Saddam Hussein's atrocities, she does not understand those Americans who are protesting the war effort.

"Shame on you if you don't support our troops. It's different when you have one of your own over there. I don't care if you don't like President Bush, these kids are in war. We should support them one hundred percent," Allen said.

Naomi Deer agreed.

"I think the protesters should be arrested," she said.

Heath Deer, who is married and now makes his home in California, will return there when the war is over. Allen said he will be stationed in Fresno. His wife, Jeanne, is already making plans to move there. Heath Deer plans to take the Navy's petty officer's test when he returns to the states.

In the meantime, his family watches the war unfold on television, and they pray not only for his safe return, but for the safety of all American soldiers.

"I promised him when he left I would pray for him every day," Naomi Deer said. "And I do."