Posted on 03/04/2005 4:15:34 PM PST by SandRat
More than 100 Army Reserve soldiers came home to the waiting arms of family members in Tucson Thursday night, thrilled to be back after a year in Iraq but sad that one colleague hadn't survived.
The late Sgt. Tina S. Time's picture was posted above a sign saying "Welcome Home Soldiers from the 208th" that hung on a wall inside the assembly hall of the Army Reserve Center on the South Side. There, three busloads of reserves rolled in shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday, just as the sun dipped beneath the horizon.
Time, who died in a vehicle crash near Nassiriya on Dec. 13, was still in the hearts and minds of many of the soldiers of the 208th Transportation Company out of Tucson. The group was stationed about 12 miles outside Fallujah, an Iraqi insurgent stronghold that U.S. forces seized late last fall.
They left Iraq in January or February, heading first to Kuwait and then to Fort Bliss in El Paso before coming back to Tucson. About 102 company members arrived in Tucson, with another 29 still in Texas and two still in Iraq, according to Elizabeth Proenza, who is in charge of the 418th Quartermaster Battalion, of which the 208th is one of 10 units.
Interviewed just outside their buses, several reservists told of passing by roadside explosives, dodging mortar fire and surviving land mine explosions in Iraq as their vehicles carried supplies to combat troops. They fondly recalled Time, 22, as a role model, an inspiration and a dedicated soldier who was not above occasionally standing atop a vehicle and singing and dancing to music coming through her headphones as a way of keeping spirits up.
"We all looked up to her. She led by example," said Sgt. Kati Ellis, a Tucsonan who like Time was a truck driver. She was riding in a convoy with her friend when the vehicle Time was driving overturned. "She wouldn't let us do anything that she wouldn't do."
She was the company's best noncommissioned officer and one of its best sergeants, said Staff Sgt. Keith Jones.
"She was a friend, a dear, sweet person," said Jones, also a Tucsonan, like about 70 percent of the company's members. "She had a very great personality and attitude. She would bring meals to people who were out on duty. We would all forget that they didn't eat - she would bring them food."
The road she was driving on when she was killed was narrow and treacherous, able to accommodate one vehicle at a time, Jones said. Her maintenance truck overturned as she went onto the right shoulder while trying to pass another vehicle, he said. The crash occurred near Cedar 2, a U.S. military base about 100 miles south of Fallujah.
"They had a tough job. When you look at what they tried to do, what an honor it was to serve with them," said Gen. Robert Ostenberg, commanding general of the 63rd Readiness Command.
Sami Y. Hamed, an aide to U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, told the soldiers they had done Arizona and the country proud: "You are still and will be known as the best of the U.S. Army."
Spc. Bo Wilson said the tension and fear were strong among the soldiers.
Once in April and again in November, they were cut off from outside supplies for a week by the insurgents and were forced to subsist on military rations.
"We didn't have any way of knowing" that more supplies and help would arrive," said Wilson, another Tucsonan. "It was just hope that things would work out."
The explosives insurgents placed on or near curbs alongside the roads were "killer," he said.
He added that "we were lucky" that none went off close enough to anyone to kill them or cause serious injuries.
Second that.
I thought that better than a blurry screen or tissue alert in this instance.
Yup, although anyone who sees the face on that little guy is going to get a two-fer.
When I saw it I was smile and misting up at the same time.
The late Sgt. Tina S. Time's picture was posted above a sign saying "Welcome Home Soldiers from the 208th" that hung on a wall inside the assembly hall of the Army Reserve Center on the South Side. There, three busloads of reserves rolled in shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday, just as the sun dipped beneath the horizon.
Lots of honorable brave miltary folks deploying in and returning from Iraq,Afganistan, Haitti etc.. Keep those prayers rolling folks. Believe the Lord will keep his almighty hand over each one of them and return them unharmed according to HIS perfect will. They serve their country with honor.
Thanks for the ping!
God Bless You!
WELCOME HOME HEROES!!!
Thank you for the ping Lady Jag!
Thank you for posting it, SandRat!!
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Welcome Home, 209th!!
Woo-hoo!!
Thank you for your sacrifice in service for our country! You make me
Take a break - put your feet up! You deserve it! HUGS!
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