Oregon Guardsmen ready to deploy to Iraq

FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) — Artillery cannons flashed and bellowed.

Each loud crescendo soared above Fort Stewart’s Cottrell Field, where 3,000 Oregon National Guardsman from the 41st Brigade Combat Team stood in formation Friday morning.

It rolled like thunder into the installation’s expanse of tall Georgia pines.

It wasn’t meant to mark the 4th of July a day early — although it did.

Instead, it was a tribute aimed at honoring the Jungleers, a group of Pacific Northwest citizen soldiers who have spent the last two months training here in preparation for a deployment to Iraq.

“Saying goodbye doesn’t get easier with practice,” said Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who visited the installation to see his soldiers deploy for a fourth time since taking office in 2003. “It is certainly true for me and it’s certainly true for the family and friends who stand before you today and pray for your safe return.”

The soldiers, including guard units from Nebraska, New Mexico, Delaware and South Carolina, logged hundreds of miles along the installation’s training lanes in preparation for the convoys and security details they will be tasked with in Iraq.

The soldiers expended a million rounds of ammo.

And they proved themselves proficient to the tasks demanded of them, said Maj. Gen. Mick Bednarek, 1st Army Division East commander, the active-duty unit charged with preparing the Guardsmen for war.

“This brigade is equipped to accomplish anything that comes their way,” said Bednarek. “It’s been tough. It’s been realistic. And it’s been challenging.

“... But let me tell you, this brigade can shoot and it can shoot very well.”

Moments earlier, Col. Dan Hokanson, commander of the 41st Brigade, helped case the unit’s flag in a long, tan canvas sleeve.

The next time the red and blue banner is exposed to sunlight, it will be on the battlefield in Iraq.

“Honor, duty, patriotism,” Bednarek said. “Unfortunately there are way too many people in our country who have forgotten it, don’t understand it or never got it.”

Bednarek then asked his audience, many of whom had traveled thousands of miles across country to send loved ones off to war, to stand up and cheer if they were proud of a soldier on the field.

Nearly 3,000 family members and friends jumped to their feet, clapping and cheering.

They sat in the blistering sun and spilled out of the parade deck bleachers. Some took shelter in the shade of Eastern redbud trees lining Warriors Walk, a memorial path Fort Stewart created eight years ago to honor its soldiers who had made the ultimate sacrifice in a time of war.

Among those expressing their pride were Anna and Lydia Snead, from Brownsville, Ore.

The two sisters had flown cross-country to see their kid brother, Spc. Paul Snead, leave for his first deployment to Iraq.

The siblings had attended community ceremonies back home, but this was their first time attending anything of this scope.

“It’s been hard,” Anna Snead said. “He’s the baby of the family. But we’re quite proud of him.”

A few yards away, Valerie Nelson held a good luck sign, decorated in red and blue glitter in honor of her husband, Sgt. David Nelson.

“This is my first ceremony like this,” she said, adding it’s her husband’s first deployment as well.

A member of the South Carolina National Guard, he will serve under the leadership of the 41st Brigade.

“I think the mission will be in constant change,” said Maj. Gen. Raymond Rees adjutant general for the Oregon National Guard, prior to the ceremony. “They will have to adapt because the role of forces and relationships are going to change, but they are taking this on very well.”

Part of that uncertainty is a result of the June 30 agreement between American and Iraqi leaders that called for the pull out of troops from major Iraqi cities.

Adding to that unknown: A national Iraqi election with political ramifications that could further change dimensions on the battlefield.

Despite the many unknowns, some family members said their loved ones were ready.

“He’s ready to go, he’s ready to serve,” said Mike Fine, of his son, Spc. Michael Fine. “I think he’s just ready to get over there, do his job and get back as quickly as he can.”

Mike, and his wife, Lynda, traveled to Fort Stewart from their home in Burns, Ore.

The parents said their July 4th weekend plans included anything their son wanted to do before he deployed.

“We might go to the concerts here or maybe walk around Savannah,” Mike Fine said. “Maybe even eat a little ’gator.”

“Yes, Michael likes his gator,” Lynda Fine added.