Oregon medevac back in U.S. after year in Iraq
FORT LEWIS, Wash. — Even as the plane touches down on American soil, their year-long deployment to Iraq is not quite over, so there are no yelps of exaltation when the plane lands. Only mute voices are heard into dusted off cell phones that emerge immediately from camo pockets.
“You are not the same as when you left,” says the chaplain who meets the weary soldiers as they exit the plane ramp into the cold evening.
The readjustment speech is just one of many that Oregon's C/7-158 Medevac soldiers will receive this week.
Outside the plane, there are no crowds of crying spouses with American flags flying or children running into the arms of their long-gone parent. That will have to wait a few hours.
Instead, a small band plays a patriotic tune as fellow Oregon soldiers shake hands of those fresh from Iraq. The soldiers still have a bus to catch, a few briefings to attend and unloading of bags before they are free to leave the base.
For soldiers who have been traveling for weeks from Iraq to Kuwait and finally to the great Northwest, what are a few more hours?
For family and friends, who have waited a year to see their soldiers, what are a few more hours?
“We’ve been waiting here since 4:30,” says Amanda Thurman, 24, of Beaverton, Ore., at 7 p.m. at the post chapel. She is too excited to reunite with her husband to be in a foul mood.
Thurman stands in a crowd of grandparents, mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends, friends and children with banners and signs of welcome.
“I want to see my daddy, daddy, daddy,” a few children chant in the rain as the bus pulls in.
Their soldiers have returned and are welcomed with long embraces and kisses.
Children jump into the fold of tight hugs.
Sgt. Carrie Jackson and her son embrace.
“I am never going to let go,” says one young daughter to her father, medic Staff Sgt. Jason Johnson, 35, of Monmouth, Ore.
“Okay,” he responds holding her hand.
Within 15 minutes of the soldiers arrival the parking lot is practically empty. Soldiers are in a hurry to leave.
In just under 48 hours, soldiers must return to Fort Lewis for days of post-deployment briefings.
For crew chief Sgt. John Edwards, 31, of Vancouver, Wash., he’d rather have one day with his 2-year-old daughter and wife than nothing at all. Plus, he thinks his family deserves a break.
“She [his wife] wanted a little vacation since she’s been stuck at home,” says Edwards (above), who is traveling to Seattle.
“I just couldn’t wait to see her,” says medic Spc. Scott Thurman, 27, of Beaverton, Ore., who will also enjoy his short vacation in Seattle with his wife. “Returning to the barracks is just a necessary evil.”
Some opt to wait until later to reunite with family. Crew chief Sgt. Rob Boyce, 45, of Keizer, Ore., is spending time with his roommate in Iraq, crew chief Sgt. Eddie Ray Jeselink, 47, of Mobile, Ala. (at right)
“He’s never been to Seattle before,” says Boyce. “He’s never been to the West Coast before.”
Jeselink and crew chief Sgt. Ryan Cornelius, 29, of Abilene, Kans., who jumped in with this unit for this deployment, won’t be able to return home until they attend a series of briefings and complete the necessary paperwork over the next week.
Cornelius will spend the next several days in the barracks.
“It’s too expensive to go anywhere, and my family’s not here,” says Cornelius. After spending a year away, he can’t help feel a bit bitter.
“Yeah, it sucks a big one,” he says.
Whether soldiers spend time with family or friends or in solitude, the fact remains they are no longer in Iraq.
Cali Bagby embedded with the Oregon Army National Guard from Charlie Company, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation, a Medevac Unit based out of Salem, Ore., for KVAL.com. Her work has been published in the Washington Post and the Eugene Weekly.
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