They came out of the Chicago winter wearing freshly laundered desert camouflage uniforms that still carried the scent of the Iraq war. They walked across floor mats that had been turned into a red carpet, and into an armory where yellow balloons floated in the air and screams of joy lifted the soul.
At last, they were home from war, 150 soldiers of the Illinois National Guard’s 3625th Maintenance Company. The emotional scene in North Riverside Tuesday was echoed around the state, in places like the small city of Paris, where the 1544th Transportation Company returned from a tour wracked with violence, and Springfield, home to the 3637th Maintenance Company. After the tears, parades and homecomings, what comes next for the troops who have spent a year or more in Iraq?
America has supported this war, and it needs to support the warriors after tours well-done. Support will, of course, come from the Department of Veterans Affairs. But there will be broader support too, from communities that acknowledge the heroism of the soldiers, from businesses that welcome the guard members and reservists back to their jobs, and from families and friends.
It’s not always easy to return home after a life-altering experience abroad.
The soldiers who returned to Illinois are among the more than 400,000 guard members and reservists who have been called to duty since Sept. 11, 2001. They return to families and mortgages, schools and jobs. Some may have difficulty coping with what they experienced in Iraq. One in six soldiers in Iraq has reported symptoms of depression, according to an Army study recently cited by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. “Some think that figure could eventually reach one in three,” Obama said.
What do the soldiers need?
“Some peace and quiet,” said Brig. Gen. Charles E. Fleming, the Illinois Army National Guard’s assistant adjutant general.
Sgt. 1st Class Delano Wilson of Palatine said troops need to work. He’ll soon return to his computer technician job at Citibank, although others in the 3625th are seeking employment. “Business will find some quality soldiers here who learned to adjust to change very quickly,” Wilson said.
Returning home will be a family affair, of soldiers renewing relationships with children who have grown so much in a year, spouses who have become more independent, parents who are a little older. Before Capt. Keefe Jackson, a police officer from North Aurora, dismissed the 3625th, some of the soldiers and families eyed one another a little bit nervously.
And then there was pandemonium, hugs and tears inside an armory.
Sgt. Terrell Carpenter came home to his wife, Christina, home to a small realty business she kept afloat while he was off to war. He returned to his father, cousins and grandparents.
What does a soldier like Carpenter need?
“You just have to come to him with love,” said his grandmother, Brenda Outlay. “Just love.”
