19 year old David is back in the USA.. (after a hellish year in Iraq)

[SoCalDem]

My friend's son decided that he would join the army so he could go to college :eyes:.. The friendly recruiter told him he would "probably" be sent to Ft Dix... (he was sent straight to Iraq)

The first legally binding thing he signed was his military sign up paper..

he did not tell his parents until afterwards.

They have been basket cases for a year, but he made it home..

Last week she said he called her and told them he was in Kuwait..and then the phone call came...the one they waited a year for..

"Mom, I'm home"..

[shadowknows69]

1. Excellent news!

n/t

[soup]

2. Thanks for sharing the good news.

Don't even know the kid (sorry - should say young man), and your post brought tears to my eyes. I hope he won't have to go back again.

personal bit - My neighbor's brother-in-law just got out, too. He was near the end of his 3rd deployment, scheduled to come home end of next month, when he was shot by a sniper (Sept. 10th? 11th?).

Pins and needles for a day or so when all anyone knew was that he'd been shot.

Then came the news that he was shot in the leg and coming home. Cheers all around - put the beer on ice. Screwed up world when someone you know has been shot in the leg, and it's good news.

Looking forward to the day - will it ever come? - that they all come home.

[Divernan]

3. This 19 yr.old's not "out"; he's simply between his 1st & 2nd deployments

I hope he gets some leave to spend time with his family, but the reality is he's still got several years left on his enlistment, right? The very latest I heard from a newly retired Rear Admiral is that all the military services are stretched out beyond thin. So I have no hope that this unfortunate young man has seen the last of Iraq.

I sent my brother the report on the life and death of Lt. Emily Perez, and he told me several days later that he & his wife couldn't get her picture out of their minds. He said, "I feel like 'a good German'", referring to WW Two. "My tax dollars (and he pays more taxes than most) are paying for this nightmare of a war. And I'm not out there protesting (as he did the Vietnam war)."

My god! The US has now been fighting this war longer than we fought WW II.