Soldiers Just Back From Iraq Are Told to Turn Around And Go Back
Aug. 16, 2006 — -- It's been a rough time for the soldiers of the Army's 172nd Stryker Brigade.
A few weeks ago, they packed their bags, shipped trunks home, and were set to return to their base in Alaska.
Then came word from the Pentagon that they would not be going home and that their tour had been extended by at least four more months.
The most wrenching part: that some of the soldiers had already gone home.
More than 300 of the 4,000 in the brigade were already home with their families. Now the Army says those soldiers will be flown back to Baghdad later this week to rejoin the rest of their unit.
Loraine Shepherd and her daughter Chelsea were overjoyed when Loraine's husband returned from Iraq.
"Now, just two weeks later, he's going back," Loraine said. "Some of us have accepted it. Some of us are very sad. Some of us are at the anger stage."
Tiffany McClure was supposed to be on a plane to Alaska today to join the man she met right before he deployed to Iraq one year ago.
Their September wedding plans have been postponed. "Just imagine how they're feeling over there. It's just horrible," she said.
On an impromptu Web site, families are venting their frustration.
The wife of one soldier says her kids made T-shirts and signs. The entry read: "We had cleaned the house. My boys, who hate to clean, helped, saying 'won't daddy be so proud of us.' Then they get the news: President Bush said the soldiers have to stay in Iraq. … He didn't have to look into my kids eyes and tell them that their daddy isn't coming home."
In Iraq, Stryker Brigade members heard about the 11th hour decision during a personal visit from their commander, Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, prompting a tense exchange:
"How come you waited so long to tell us anything?" one soldier asked.
We didn't want to do it, Chiarelli said. "If I really had known prior to that, would I have let 345 of your guys fly back to Alaska?"
"I hope not, sir," the soldier replied.
"I hope not, too. But the conditions in Baghdad just turned, just turned south on us," Chiarelli said.
The Army would later send counselors to meet with some of the soldiers.
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