Soldier In Iraq

A homecoming of heroes as Fort Lewis welcomes Stryker soldiers TheNewsTribune.com, WA - 19 hours ago Patrick Mackin, the brigade intelligence officer, and about 4000 other soldiers were in the ranks Tuesday. The brigade closed the books on its Iraq ...

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Lt. Gen. Charles H. Jacoby Jr. congratulates

Spc. Rodny Yefune, left, after presenting

him Tuesday with a Silver Star at a welcome-home ceremony

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Katherine Mackin, who is almost 3, was pleasantly unconcerned with all the military pomp going on around her Tuesday as Fort Lewis formally welcomed another Stryker brigade home from the war in Iraq. The 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division is home after nearly 15 months over there. Katherine had a little song for the part that mattered most to her. “My daddy’s back,” the little girl sang, skipping in SpongeBob rubber sandals around her mom, Sandy. “My daddy’s ba-a-ack.” Lt. Col. Patrick Mackin, the brigade intelligence officer, and about 4,000 other soldiers were in the ranks Tuesday. The brigade closed the books on its Iraq deployment, reunited with some of its wounded, paid tribute to its 37 fallen and recognized two of its most valiant – one of them posthumously. It was a mission that began ahead of schedule, when the brigade’s departure was moved up a month to April 2007 to be part of the surge of U.S. forces into Baghdad. Over time, most of its troops would move north to Diyala province, a stronghold for insurgent fighters. About 110 soldiers in an advance party returned to Fort Lewis in early May. The final trail party of 70 is due home today. U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, told the troops that they left their area of operations in far better condition than it was when they got there. Dicks thanked them for answering their nation’s call, promised that he and others in Congress would see to their needs, and encouraged them to “look out for each other at home just as you did in the streets of Iraq” as they cope with life after a long time in the war zone. “We are very proud of you today, and very grateful,” the congressman said. “You all are heroes in the truest sense of the word.” Lt. Gen. Charles Jacoby, the I Corps and Fort Lewis commander, thanked the soldiers’ families for their support at home during the long deployment. To the soldiers, he said that despite “great challenges and hardships, the loss of comrades, a chaotic environment, and a ruthless enemy, your courage never wavered. “… You took the fight into the strongholds of our enemies. You looked them in the eye. You took the worst they could do and you bested them.” The brigade commander, Col. Jon Lehr, said his troops killed or wounded more than 600 enemy fighters and detained another 1,700. They recruited another 12,000 people into local security forces. They also created security so that local governments could begin to work at rebuilding communities and reopen markets and schools. “The surge has worked and has created the conditions for rebuilding efforts to become the main effort,” Lehr said. Lt. Col. Bill Prior, who commanded one of the brigade’s infantry battalions, the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, said it was clear to his soldiers they were making progress against insurgents as the long deployment wore on. “It definitely got better,” Prior said. “We were getting shot at a lot less. There were a lot fewer (improvised explosives). People were starting to come forward a lot more to give you information.” But the brigade’s success came at a cost. In addition to the 37 soldiers from 4th Brigade who were killed during the deployment, another 411 were wounded. About 130 were hurt seriously enough to be evacuated for treatment in Germany and the United States, officials said. During the ceremony, Lehr called out for the wounded to return to the ranks. About 50 moved forward from the viewing stand, including Mike Hauser, whose comrades pushed his wheelchair out to rejoin the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment. Hauser suffered a serious head injury and other wounds when a woman wearing an explosive vest detonated herself near their Stryker. Tuesday’s call to ranks was a powerful moment for Hauser’s wife, Rachel, their daughter, Kyli, nearly 1, and Rachel’s mom, Jeanie Davenport. “He’s a miracle story,” Rachel said. “We really weren’t sure he was going to make it.” The ceremony was likewise a tonic for Paul Olson, who lost his son, Spc. Nicholas Olson, to an improvised bomb Sept. 18, 2007, in Muqdadiyah. “I walked out here yesterday morning and the morning before at 5:30 just to talk to him, and this is my chance to honor him in a way that would be familiar to him and his friends,” Olson said. Soldiers and officers from his battalion welcomed him and shared time to talk about their memories of the 22-year-old from Novato, Calif. “I miss my son, but this is the next best thing,” Olson said. “It’s the closest I’m going to get to him now. His spirit’s here.”