Guard Unit Home After Record Combat Tour

2,600 Minnesota Soldiers Are Back With Their Families After Being Deployed For 22 Months

(CBS)  A call by Puerto Rico's governor for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq earned a standing ovation from a conference of more than 4,000 National Guardsmen.

Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila said Saturday that the U.S. administration has "no new strategy and no signs of success" and that prolonging the war would needlessly put guardsmen in harm's way.

"The war in Iraq has fractured the political will of the United States and the world," he said at the opening of the 129th National Guard Association general conference. "Clearly, a new war strategy is required and urgently."

Acevedo said sending more troops to Iraq would be a costly blunder.

"By increasing the number of National Guard and reserve troops, we put our soldiers in danger for the umpteenth time since the beginning of the global war on terrorism," said the governor, adding U.S. territories and states need Guard reserves in the event of natural disasters and domestic disturbances.

It was a reunion the soldiers and their families had played out in their minds over and over.

But it wasn't until they could see and touch each other that they were finally able to exhale and let go of emotions bottled up since the fall of 2005, when 2,600 members of Minnesota National Guard's First Brigade Combat Team shipped out.

By the time they got home, the group that included cops, welders, students and teachers, had served 22 months; 16 months in what they called the "hellhole of Fallujah."

"It was about a 38-minute firefight. In the end, 20 insurgents were killed," Capt. Chip Rankin Bravo Company Commander said in Iraq.

Extended by the troop surge, theirs was the longest combat tour of any branch of the military in this war, or any war, except for this same guard unit, which put in 17 months back in World War II. Bloodshed then gave them the nickname Red Bulls. And this group, too, came home, in the words of one commander, "tattered and missing some pieces."

"It's a great thing to be back, but at the same time, you realize they didn't get a chance to come back with you," Sgt. Tim Nelson tells CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers.

Bravo Company lost three soldiers; 24-year-old James Wosika was one of them. The others, Bryan McDonough, 22, and Corey Rystad, 20, were out on patrol when an IED tore through their armored vehicle. Sgt. John Kriesel survived, but barely.

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Eye To Eye: A Soldier's Story

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"I looked down and my left leg was gone and then my right leg about six inches below the knee," says the wounded Bravo Company soldier. "I just closed my eyes … I didn't want to see that, and that if I do make it, I don't want that to be the last thing I see or remember, you know?"

Kriesel made the trip from Walter Reed Hospital in Washington to welcome his guys back home.

Most of these soldiers were just coming off a one-year stint in Bosnia when the call came to deploy to Iraq. In all, they've been gone three of the last four years, gone from their families, their jobs and their everyday lives.

Turning in weapons is just one step in a long process.

"It's going to take some time to adjust," says Eric Myrold.

The soldiers have missed milestones and moments, and their loved ones have had to learn to soldier on without them.

For Myrold and others, the toughest battle may prove to be figuring out how to fit back in ... in their very own homes.

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What happens after the homecoming? In part two of her series, Cynthia Bowers takes a look at the tough transition faced by the returning soldiers and their families.

[prinzowhales]

Minnesota Guardsmen! You are home. Outstanding! Don't go back to Iraq to fight the Regime's Stupid People's War. Don't stand with the Regime if it declares martial law in order to maintain its death grip on power.

[j-whitman]

Well done & Welcome home -- The next deployment will be 15 months long... Enjoy your families.

[j-whitman]

One_American,,, If you are intrested in the Truth, there are only about 50 actual Al Quedis terrorists in Iraq -- The rest are Iraqi's & Arabs.

There are many enemy's our troops are confronting today,,, Both Sunni's & Sheiits today will stop in the middle of a fight with each other & turn thier fire on our troops.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20206675/from/RS.4/

[ov442]

thank God youre back and i pray for those that didnt make it.
What an Extreme situation this unit had to endure. 1 yr in bosnia, then almost 2 in Iraq, in combat. I hope the military can actually provide the counseling and help these people will need to adjust to civilian life as best they can. And for their families to understand what to expect and how to deal with it.

[rafterman1]

22 months. That's balls. Not bad for a bunch cops, welders, students and teachers. Outstanding!

[smtrepanier]

Welcome home and thank you for all your hard work and sacrifices.

[mcvet]

If we did not invade iRag, saddam and OBBama were going to nuke us in 45 minutes. Plus who do you think sent that anthrax the same day as irag plowed their planes into NY City. Do you lieberals want us to be nuked by Obbamaa Bin Laden? They found all those weapons alquaida had in Northern irag but no one every talks about that. Why? Because the lieberals are afraid of the TRUTH!!! Bush saved us from Nuclear war! And you hate him for that!!
if we dont kill the iragi they will just fly more planes over here and kill us!!

Posted by risr at 02:14 PM : Aug 09, 2007
+ report abuse

Right! By the way Sparky did you see the Prez of Iran holding hands with the Prez of Iraq? Wonder what that is all about? ROFLMAO You POOR stupid Nazi's have been played for fools and you can't even see it. Al Qaeda has completely rebuilt and Iran is all pal's with Iraq's leader.... any more "victory" from you clowns and were are we going to be? ROFLMAO Dumb as a box of rocks!! Sieg Heil Y'all. ROFLMAO

[prinzowhales]

Posted by notblue at 01:22 PM : Aug 09, 2007
------------
So, in response to this "ideology", we 'take out' the largest secular Arab regime in the region, destroy all the amenities of 21st century life and reduce the population to what might as well be the 6th century with cars and explosives? It sounds just like our plan of supporting Wahabbism and helping to export it and establish itself--and a local fundamentalism more in tune with the Afghan people--by funding, through the CIA/ISI, the madrassahs? What a great plan!--if you are intent upon creating chaos.

[prinzowhales]

One_American--I remember the same kind of crowing after the Blitzkrieg victory...that was, how many years ago? Like shapeshifters, however, the opposing forces have changed from 'Republican Guards', 'Saddam loyalists', and 'diehard Ba'athists into 'Mahdi Army', 'Sunni insurgents' and 'al Qaeda'.

"Mission Accomplished?" If the short history of claims of success, costs, popularity and the welfare of the Iraqi people over that time period are any indication, the latest boasting will be premature, then quickly forgotten as reality in Iraq pokes its ugly head into the dream world of the Neo-Con and their Chimp.

[one_american]

From the Associated Press:

"One senator said U.S. troops are routing out al-Qaida in parts of Iraq. Another insisted President Bush's plan to increase troops has caused tactical momentum.

One even went so far on Wednesday as to say the argument could be made that U.S. troops are winning.

These are not Bush-backing GOP die-hards, but Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Bob Casey and Jack Reed. Even Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, said progress was being made by soldiers."


I hope you LIKE the taste of crow, liberals.

Oh, and save room for some humble pie, afterwards!

[bb19631]

good to have you home again, minnesota ng. enjoy life now, its been a long tour for you all.

[bareemperor]

Bu$h believes burning out the troops is a far better plan than the draft. If Bu$h had reinstated the draft, the 'war' would be over by now due to it's unpopularity...

[red164]

You leftists and Daily KOS buddies are just as bad as Al Queda.


Posted by singinrick at 06:31 AM : Aug 09, 2007

The BBC%u2019s Greg Palast said that a %u201Chigh-placed member of a U.S. intelligence agency%u201D told him that %u201Cwhile there%u2019s always been constraints on investigating Saudis, under George Bush it%u2019s gotten much worse. After the elections, the agencies were told to %u2018back off%u2019 investigating the Bin Ladens and Saudi royals, and that angered agents.%u201D The official added that %u201Csince September 11th the policy has been reversed.%u201D

On orders of the Bush administration, a 28-page section dealing with suspected Saudi ties to the 9/11 plot was blacked out of the declassified version of the congressional report. Bush claimed that declassifying the information %u201Cwould reveal sources and methods%u201D and %u201Chelp the enemy.%u201D But Sen. Bob Graham, ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, decried the redactions. %u201CIn my judgment there is compelling evidence that a foreign government provided direct support through officials and agents of that government to some of the September 11 hijackers,%u201D Graham said. Sen. Chuck Schumer went further: %u201CThere seems to be a systematic strategy of coddling and cover-up when it comes to the Saudis.%u201D

[red164]

You leftists and Daily KOS buddies are just as bad as Al Queda.


Posted by singinrick at 06:31 AM : Aug 09, 2007

Several cases from recent years have come to light in which FBI agents complained of being held back by superiors from investigating Islamic extremist groups. In each instance, it was alleged that high-ranking officials acted out of concern that these inquiries could lead back to America%u2019s closest Arab ally: Saudi Arabia.

%u201CAll the answers, everything needed to dismantle Osama bin Laden%u2019s organization can be found in Saudi Arabia,%u201D John O%u2019Neill, the FBI%u2019s former top bin Laden investigator, said shortly before his death in the World Trade Center. O%u2019Neill explicitly referred to interference from US policymakers concerned about U.S.-Saudi relations. He %u201Ccomplained that the F.B.I. was not free to act in international terror investigations because the State Department kept interfering,%u201D according to a New York Times account of O%u2019 Neill%u2019s interview with French journalist Jean-Charles Brisard shortly before his death. O%u2019Neill %u201Cexplains the failure in one word: oil.%u201D

[red164]

You leftists and Daily KOS buddies are just as bad as Al Queda.


Posted by singinrick at 06:31 AM : Aug 09, 2007


Grover Glenn Norquist (born October 19, 1956) is an American conservative activist. He currently serves as president of anti-tax lobbying group Americans for Tax Reform.

Norquist has been close friends with Abramoff since college, when he ran Abramoff%u2019s successful campaign to become national chairman of the College Republicans.

[edit] Alleged links to radical Islamists and terrorism
In 1998, Norquist founded the Islamic Free Market Institute[18] (sometimes just called the "Islamic Institute") with money from a number of sources, mainly in the Middle East. One of the early major contributors was Abdurahman Alamoudi, the founder of the American Muslim Council. Alamoudi appears to have contributed $35,000 to the Islamic Institute.[19] Alamoudi was convicted of illegal dealings with Libya, tax, and immigration violations on July 30, 2004, and was sentenced to 23 years in jail.

Norquist has been linked to Florida professor and Muslim activist Sami Al-Arian. On March 2, 2006, Al-Arian pled guilty to one count of conspiracy "to make or receive contributions of funds, goods or services to or for the benefit of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad."


Norquist has been noted for his widely quoted quip: "I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.

[risr-2009]

If we did not invade iRag, saddam and OBBama were going to nuke us in 45 minutes. Plus who do you think sent that anthrax the same day as irag plowed their planes into NY City. Do you lieberals want us to be nuked by Obbamaa Bin Laden? They found all those weapons alquaida had in Northern irag but no one every talks about that. Why? Because the lieberals are afraid of the TRUTH!!! Bush saved us from Nuclear war! And you hate him for that!!
if we dont kill the iragi they will just fly more planes over here and kill us!!

[randalds]

You leftists and Daily KOS buddies are just as bad as Al Queda.


Posted by singinrick at 06:31 AM : Aug 09, 2007

You know ricky I'd never heard of the daily kos until you kept talking about it. I figured if you hated it so much it must be great site. It is. Thanks dumb as*s!

[notblue]

Prinzowales, as usual your splitting hairs, it's not just Al Queda, it's the ideology, you know the slaughtering of innocents in order to supress and regress, to stomp out freedom and democracy and replace it with a babaristic 6th century theocracy, that's the plans your brotheres have for Iraq and the greater middle east, wake up fool or join them in there Jihad.

[photogeezer]

If we profess to love the troops so much, let's demand full funding for the VA, the government agency with the facilities, trained people and expertise to deal with the inevitable consequences of war. Demand fair and equitable disability ratings from the military, not the bogus ratings that deny the family health care benefits. Come down on the military's bogus "personality disorder" and "bipolar" diagnoses in response to symptoms that are clearly PTSD.

Fact: Congressional Republicans shot down a bill to grant home duty of 15 months following a 15-month tour in a combat zone. 22 months is a ridiculously long combat tour. This unit has done what they signed up to do and much more. They need to stay at home.

Regardless of what side of this divided house we are in on the issue of this war, all of us have common ground in wanting the best for those who served.

[prinzowhales]

notblue--We are creating violent opposition to our violent incursions into Moslem lands. In fact, there is a Pentagon program, whose name I can't recall at the moment, but will root up, if time permits, that was designed to provoke terrorist responses...to, in effect, hit a sleeping dog with a stick till he bites...

It is all part of the art of politics...to be the master of both the thesis and anti-thesis of the dialectic and thus dictate the synthesis... It is 'Problem-Reaction-Solution'.

After creating the problem, we sent in the troops to fight the Stupid Peoples' War...such was the reaction...

What will be the solution? Bush41 said of his war, that it would be a fine time for a "New World Order". The same people who support this 'order' were in charge for the war of aggression against Yugoslavia--and they used al Qaeda as the shock troops for the Moslems in Bosnia. Now, they are claiming to be fighting 'al Qaeda'...The FBI can't make a case against Osama for 9-11; the US ambassador in Yemen impeded the FBI investigation into the attack on the USS Cole; the Americans refused Sudan's offer to turn OBL over and he moved easily off to Afghanistan...just because the Regime screams "Al Qaeda! Al Qaeda! Al Qaeda!" every time the Iraqi insurgents attack doesn't make them al Qaeda.