Cav trooper glad to be home for holidays

There's no place like home for the holidays, especially if you've been in Iraq for more than a year. The home had those unmistakable ornaments: a yellow ribbon tied around the old oak tree, some red, white and blue mylar balloons, and "Welcome Home SP 4 Alex, a Hero."

The Christmas decorations were up and Army Spc. Alex Prieto was glad to be home for the holidays, a three-week leave and quality time to spend with his Vietnam veteran father Francisco Prieto, his mother Maria, his sister Christina and a couple of cousins.

He looked relaxed enough, sitting at the kitchen table, dressed in casual civilian attire. He also had the watchful look of someone who had spent a year in the hot zone.

The welcome home meal after the flight from Ft. Hood looked home cooked. A bowl of albondigas soup, washed down with a big can of Monster energy drink. The comforts of home.

Prieto served with the 1st Cavalry Division, that division with a storied history going back to horse soldiers, continuing through the "We Were Soldiers" histories of Vietnam, up into this present day in Iraq.

"I'm proud to be a member of the 1st Cavalry Division," he said. "I'm proud to have been with the division when it went to combat."

Prieto, 22, has lived with his family at various times in Palmdale the last couple of decades. But for 15 months that began in October 2006, his home base was the environs of Camp Liberty in Baghdad.

He carried out casualty liaison duties on staff with 1st Cavalry. Many of the big Forward Operating Base camps in the Baghdad area form spokes around a hub that used to be one of the many palaces of the deceased dictator, Saddam Hussein.

"I turned 20 in basic training and 21 in Iraq," Prieto said. "I know I've become more responsible. People think you are trained to be a killer, but that is not how it is at all. You learn the meaning of integrity and you learn what honor is all about."

"But I wouldn't mind going back either," he said. "I'd go back in a heartbeat. I know we are getting things done that are important."

Our trooper Prieto, another American hero. They are not in short supply.

BUMP

Merry Christmas BenLurkin!

2 posted on 12/23/2007 11:12:43 AM PST by ARE SOLE (Agents Ramos and Campean are in prison at this very moment.. (A "Concerned Citizen".)

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