Vermont troops return home safely After a year in Iraq, the worst is over for some

Author: Sarah Shaikh

Military officials confirmed on Monday that a unit of 200 Vermont Army National Guards, who were deployed to Iraq on Jan. 24, 2004, will be returning to the United States Thursday, March 3. This group of returning guardsmen, the first to be deployed to Iraq from Vermont, is a section of the First Battalion of the 86th field Artillery. They were mainly based at the Baghdad International Airport escorting convoys and working on security details. The guardsmen were also assigned to special handle requests such as providing security to generals and escorting two convoys of Korean soldiers through Iraq. Additionally, they provided school supplies and humanitarian aid to schools near Baghdad. They received awards for pristine upkeep of their equipment.

Along with the admiration and awards, however, came the tragedy inevitable with war. The Battalion lost four soldiers, with others sustaining numerous injuries, during the tour. "They proved themselves to be extremely competent and in the end felt they had edified their active-duty counterparts," said Vermont Guard spokeswoman First Lt. Veronica Saffo.

The guardsmen left Iraq on Feb. 8 and were sent to the staging area in Kuwait. They are scheduled to arrive in Fort Dix, N.J. late on Thursday, March 3 and will have to undergo a four to 10 day processing and debriefing procedure before they will be able to return to Vermont. The stop over at Fort Dix is part of a standard procedure to help guardsmen leave their positions of active duty and return to their civilian lives. It includes completing forms related to payment as well as medical and dental screenings. There will also be treatment available for guardsmen suffering from combat stress.

Saffo stated, "Families will not be able to see their loved ones in New Jersey because the soldiers are still on active duty." Once back in Vermont the soldiers will have a quiet homecoming ceremony with their families.

What is interesting in this saga, from a historical perspective, is the increased importance in the position of the National Guard within the hierarchy of the United States Military. "I can remember days that we would train until 4:30 in the afternoon and then sit around a fire and play cards and talk. We don't do that anymore," said Lloyd Touchette, a 57-year-old guardsman. This is largely due to the decrease in personnel numbers within the army in the last 20 years. Though this increase in Guard participation during conflicts is necessary to the military, it has greatly affected those who chose to join the Guard for specific reasons, especially in the state of Vermont. For instance, in Vermont many of the people who enrolled in the National Guard in order to respond to natural disasters or those who enrolled on a part-time basis have been sent overseas to serve in combat. As reported in the Burlington Free Press, Staff Sergeant Frederick LeClair Jr. is a prime example of this. Now 40-years-old and a single father of two boys, LeClair joined the Guard right out of high school with the hope of serving Vermont when disasters occurred. "I signed up because every time you turned around, the National Guard was there for tornadoes, floods, fires, and I've always wanted to help the community." He instead was deployed, along with 330 of his fellow guardsmen, to Iraq last January. "I might not come home. This could be the last time I see everybody. They'll leave a light on for me at home, and I hope I'll come back," he said then.