Pensamientos

Soldiers bid farewell to Iraq, look toward Kuwait and home MATT MOORE Associated Press TIKRIT, Iraq - As a pair of Blackhawk helicopters circled in low to land, Army Chaplain Capt. Lance Fadeley asked blessings from above to shield dozens of soldiers with the 4th Infantry Division preparing to make a three-day drive to Kuwait and ultimately back home to Texas. "We ask that you look down and protect these men and women as they make this drive," Fadeley said as the soldiers, ending nearly a year in Iraq, bowed their heads, some clinching their eyes tightly, silently mouthing prayers of their own. The vanguard of the 124th Signal Battalion, the soldiers started their caravan of more than 45 Humvees, trucks and trailers to drive to Kuwait where they will eventually head back to the United States. For most, the departure was a mix of anticipation and wariness of the insurgency and daily roadside bomb attacks along the main highway to Baghdad and beyond to the border. "We're concerned, but not fearful," said Spc. Ronald Coleman, of Fontana, Calif., as he tied a rucksack atop his Humvee, pulling the straps tight to keep it from blowing off along the roadway. "IEDs, small arms fire, we think about." Others were ready for the long drive, too, thinking of the safe haven in Kuwait. "It was getting to be like Groundhog Day here," said Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Jones of Greenwood, Miss., referring to the 1993 movie where the main character relives the same day over and over again. "We were counting down the days, and it all seemed the same." The Army is taking no chances in making sure the soldiers are able to readjust once they return. Seeking to avoid a repeat of 2002, when some soldiers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, were accused of killing their wives and girlfriends, Capt. Xuan Tran, of the 1-22nd Task Force Iron Horse, said all troops are undergoing briefings about what to expect when they return home. "There will be many changes," the Army chaplain said. "Things will not be normal because they have been away from their families for a year." He said the briefings, which occur weekly, are designed to tell soldiers how to communicate with their loved ones and how to seek help once they arrive home. "Communication is the number one tool for this," he said. "To give them hope and resolve their conflict."