I've posted two previous diaries (
http://lunareclipse.dailykos.com/... ) (the part two diary has the link to the original diary) about our efforts to locate my brother, both of which asked for ideas on how we might proceed to locate him. My mom and I both thank the DKos community for your input and support.
Yesterday, my mom got a call from him. More below...
Mom talked to my brother for about half an hour yesterday. He says he's well, but tired. She got him to name the company he's working for, finally. Suffice to say, it's a communications corp. Apparently, he's sometimes "in the field" away from computer or phone, and we should expect him to be out of pocket from time to time. (Personally, I find that really alarming...)
Here's what worked: the Red Cross performed well, keeping in touch with Mom at regular intervals. Senator McCain's office responded to my request for help quickly, but said they could not help without my brother's permission. Kinda Catch-22 that. If we knew how to get his permission.... None of the other agencies or representatives we spoke to were helpful, including his reserve unit in either Maryland (his original unit) or Texas (where's he's a "transplant".)
All in all, a happy ending, though we still have some mystifying bits to unravel. Namely, the original phone call at 1:30am this past Friday, and why we get a total stranger at the cellphone number my sister-in-law swears she uses to speak to my brother regularly. (That part might be as mysterious as all that, but still...)
In any case, we've at least talked to him, know he's working in Iraq and for who, and have more peace of mind than before. And again, our wholehearted THANKS to Kossacks!!