Posted on 09/05/2006 8:36:20 AM PDT by Zakeet
FORT HOOD – It has begun.
It will take a few months to get to all 21,000 soldiers, but the 4th Infantry Division officially began returning home Monday from Iraq when about 150 soldiers from its Sustainment Brigade burst through the doors of Starker Gym to greet their loved ones.
"Be proud of what you did," Col. Dick Francey, the division's rear commander, told the soldiers as they stood in a formation after arriving at the gym. "Your nation owes you a debt of gratitude."
The brigade was the first from the division to head to Iraq, leaving about three months ahead of the division's main body.
Denise Cansler was delighted her husband could be in the first group to deploy because that meant he'd be in the first group to come home, which he did, about three weeks shy of a year after he left.
Cansler and her husband, Sgt. Richard Cansler Sr., really haven't seen each other in the last five years they've been married. Even so, Cansler said she and her husband have "the perfect marriage."
They simply don't have time for the petty things.
"I cherish every day I have with him," Cansler said as she waited for her husband to arrive at the gym.
Since the couple got married in 2001, Cansler's husband spent seven months in Kuwait, seven months in Iraq, five months in Korea, another six months in Iraq and then his yearlong tour in Iraq that just completed.
"We have a spiritual and mental connection," Cansler said. "He trusts me, and I trust him completely. I pray for him and thank God for him every day."
Cansler, who was introduced to her husband by a mutual friend, was struck by his kindness.
"He was just so adorable," Cansler said with a giggle.
She still gets nervous at homecomings. She commented Monday that she felt like she was meeting her husband again for the first time. She couldn't sleep the night before and spent three days trying to pick out the perfect outfit.
"I was trying to decide. Do I want to look sexy? Do I want to look like I don't care because I'm just glad he's home," she said.
She decided on a denim outfit, which even after the three days of contemplation, was the first thing she pulled out of her closet this morning.
The couple's 2-year-old, Richard Jr., played with flags and nibbled on candy, not really aware of what was happening. He's seen his dad in person for about five months in his life.
"That's what's really hard," Cansler said. "He needs his daddy. I don't know how the people with two or three kids do it."
The soldier Cansler, a tank mechanic, is scheduled to keep up the Army-induced separation from his family come January, when he attends a school in Maryland for a few months.
After that, his wife guesses he'll get deployed again, "with his luck."
But, she said she remembers her late mother's strength when her father, also a soldier, was often away from the family. And that's how she makes it through.
The excitement of homecomings helps, too.
"I just can't stop smiling," she said at least a dozen times in the two hours she awaited her husband's arrival at the gym.
When her husband arrived and was finally dismissed from the formation to greet the family, Cansler had no trouble spotting him.
Their son was a little confused, but he let his dad pick him up and cuddle him.
"It's overwhelming," Richard Cansler said as he held his son. "Being a whole family again is the best. (Richard Jr.) just got so big on me. I'll continue trying to raise him right."
The Sustainment Brigade soldiers are scheduled to have four days of leave, but their reintegration training likely will not begin until next week, Francey said.
While anything can change in the next few months, the rest of the 4th Infantry's soldiers are expected to be home, finished with reintegration training and on 30 days of leave by Christmas, Francey said.
There is also a touching photo, worth checking out, which accompanies the story.
Enjoy.
The Democrats are demanding that we start bringing troops home this year. Here's 21,000 for ya'.
Almost forgot. These are the wrong troops to bring home and it's Bush's fault and he sould fire Rumsfeld.
Thank you, for the duty that you served for our country.
hehe ...
Holding his 7 week-old child.
I guess his deployment wasn't quite 1 full year-long wink wink. They were busy just before he left, as we would have been also.
Welcome home, heroes!
I belong to a listserve and one young lady in her twenties
just returned after a 2 year tour of duty in Iraq, she had the best attitude. Soldiers like her should be interviewed!
Proud of our awesome Troops!!
This thread needs pictures
"First wave of soldiers return from Iraq duty"
This headline makes me want to grab the writer by the throat and mimic the hockey club owner in Slapshot trying to get his Quebecois player to stop saying "Who own da Chiefs?" by telling him, "Ownzzzz. OwnZZZ!!"
"Wave" is singular and the subject. Soldiers, the plural, is part of a prepositional phrase. The first wave returnzzz. Returnzzz!!!
Welcome Home,4th I.D.~~~~Well Done~~~~TANKS.
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