Extended Iraq tours took a toll on soldiers' families

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http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-12-waiting-families-cover_N.htm?POE=NEWISVA

Extended Iraq tours took a toll on soldiers' families
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

FRIEDBERG, Germany — In September, soldiers with the 1st Combat Brigade, 1st Armored Division, learned that their tour of duty in Iraq would be extended about six weeks. Some of their families agreed to keep track of their experiences during the extension for USA TODAY. The scenes, thoughts and quotes in this story are based on those interviews and on diaries and blogs kept in recent months by the families.

They expected the soldiers would be heading home by early January. Instead, fear still tormented families of the Army's 1st Combat Brigade, 1st Armored Division based here: The troops had been ordered to fight on for another six weeks.

Of the roughly 1,300 soldiers in the brigade who fought in frontline positions, about 250 had been wounded and 29 killed during their year at war.

The soldiers were in Ramadi, one of the most dangerous cities in Iraq, and some families worried their loved ones were pushing their luck. A normal Army tour of duty was supposed to last only 12 months.

As the Pentagon works to implement President Bush's plan to raise troop levels in Iraq by 21,500 and fight another war in Afghanistan, more troops — and more families — face the same painful reality.

The Army and Marine Corps say that about 11,000 troops are under orders to remain in combat beyond their initial deadlines for coming home, some for as long as four months.

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1. Not sure if you heard about the "welcome home" issue

In the past there had been well-funded "welcome home" celebrations for returning Brigades/Divisions. But recently, before Jan. 2007, there had been an "across the board" reallocation of DoD funds for FY 2007, from non-defense related programs to defense, strictly. So, families of units like the 1AD were expected to fund their own celebration, perhaps with a self-supported potluck.

There was outrage.

Somehow enough funds were scraped together to buy some hot dogs/hamburgers and have a bar-be-que.

During the ceremony, cannons were fired. The 1AD took cover. A note was made that cannon fire was perhaps not a good idea for a division that had spent 16 mo. in a war zone.

Friends who are concessionaires have done business with this returning unit. There are lots of tears and fears. Many have lost friends, or have seen fellow soldiers' appendages blown off. Some have said they don't want to go into the town anymore; they can't stand a crowd. One soldier said that the hardest thing for him to do was to have to stand before his soldiers and lie to them. Others are abruptly divorcing; they have nothing more in common. Many are talking to the local military psychologist, crying their eyes out.

None of them wants to go back. They think both wars are "a joke," without the laughs.