Staff Sgt. Germell Milton with Charlie Company Task Force 1-64
celebrates after stepping onto Kuwaiti soil Monday during a two-day convoy ride from Iraq.
Posted on 07/28/2003 2:43:01 PM PDT by Pokey78
Fort Stewart families exult, plan welcomes
Camp New York, Kuwait -- Some danced for joy.
Others pulled out long-stored cigars and lit up.
Still others rolled in the sand and gleefully shouted: "I'm going home! I'm going home!"
Soldiers of Task Force 1-64 of the 3rd Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team unleashed long pent-up emotions Monday after leaving Iraq and setting foot in Kuwait after more than 10 months overseas, including four weeks of tough combat and four months of dangerous occupation duty in Iraq.
"It finally feels like we're going home. Now, we'll all be a little more relaxed," said a smiling Sgt. Steven Glasco, 26, of Miami, just minutes after crossing into Kuwait and out of the combat zone that is Iraq.
Soldiers with the task force nicknamed "Desert Rogues" happily unloaded their weapons and shed their bulky flak jackets, revealing desert camouflage uniforms soaked with sweat and stained with salt and grime.
They let loose with smiles and cheers after holding them in check for weeks of on-again, off-again redeployment promises and rumors.
Just a week ago they were frustrated and angry after learning that they might have to stay in Iraq or Kuwait for another two months. But on Monday they joked and laughed late into the night as they hastily unloaded vehicles and ammunition in preparation for turning in much of their combat gear before the trip home.
Markelle Tucker, 25, of Sumter, S.C., smiled wearily after driving a Humvee in which temperatures at times reached 115 degrees much of the way from Baghdad.
"I'll probably get excited once the airplane gets in the air, but I'm too tired right now," said Tucker, a communications specialist and driver with Charlie Co.
Task Force 1-64, which led 2nd Brigade's charge on Baghdad, will now lead the Fort-Stewart-based unit home. The task force is scheduled to fly out of Kuwait some time between Aug. 4 and 6, military officials said. The brigade's task forces 3-15 and 4-64 are still in Iraq but are scheduled to leave in the next few days.
Glasco, a mechanic and driver with Charlie Co., was in the last task force vehicle to cross the border at 3:50 p.m. local time. Along with Capt. Jason Conroy, Charlie Co. commander, Tucker and Glasco brought up the tail of a convoy that at times stretched over hundreds of miles and two countries.
It took the last three soldiers and the group of tanks and other tracked vehicles they accompanied more than 36 hours to cover the 415 miles from Baghdad to Camp New York in northern Kuwait.
"That was absolutely the convoy from hell. But it's just another step closer to home," said Conroy, who was recently awarded the Silver Star for his actions in combat in Iraq.
The convoy began Sunday morning from the task force's base in Fallujah with a sense of mission and precise military planning.
But it quickly degenerated into a confusing and at times near-chaotic slow-motion drive to the border. The 70-ton M-1A1 Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles were loaded onto heavy equipment transporters for the trip south. The tracked vehicles had to be coaxed, cajoled and at times dragged onto the vehicles because many of them had been run into the ground and were no longer working.
The transporters had their own problems, with numerous blown tires and engines.
Lead elements of the convoy left Fallujah at 4:30 a.m. Sunday and rolled into Kuwait and Camp New York later that night. This is one of the training camps where Charlie Co. and the task force stayed during its six months of training for the war in Iraq.
But Conroy's vehicle left Fallujah at 6:30 a.m. and did not arrive at the base camp in Kuwait until nearly dark Monday.
Each pause in the convoy brought out a bevy of budding Iraqi entrepreneurs. They emerged from the desert as if by magic, hawking ice, souvenir daggers, AK-47 bayonets, cigarettes, bootleg liquor and Iraqi flags and Iraqi soccer shirts.
If they knew no other English, they at least knew "Buy! Buy!" which they shouted at the souvenir happy soldiers and "Ice! Ice!" which is in short supply and in big demand by the sweltering Americans.
But for the soldiers, there was little time for bargain-hunting or souvenir shopping. Their goal was the border with Kuwait.
"It feels good to be back in Kuwait," said 1st Sgt. Jose Mercado, 40, of Quebradillas, Puerto Rico, the top enlisted soldier in Charlie Co. "At least here, nobody is shooting at us."
The troopers of the 3rd did an outstanding job and with the fickle American press will never receive the accolades that they deserve. It is up to us to tell them
"Job well done"
The troopers of the 3rd did an outstanding job and with the fickle American press will never receive the accolades that they deserve. It is up to us to tell them
"Job well done"
It must be like having your wife tell you - the day after delivering her first baby - that she never, EVER wants to go through that again; a year later, she starts hinting about having another one, swearing up and down that she never said anything of the sort.
Well, I am glad to see you in Kuwait, soldiers... it ain't home, but I understand that you can see it from there.
And a particularly big "Godspeed" to one young LT, in particular. Shane, there's a young lady, son, and little girl that wants you on that plane ASAP!
Well done, son!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.