AJC.com > Iraq coverage > Blog > Archives > 2005 > August > 31
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Louisiana soldiers Iraq anxious as Katrina updates roll in
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Camp Striker, Iraq — It was supposed to be time of joy for the soldiers of the Louisiana Army National Guard’s 256th Brigade Combat Team. After a long year in Iraq, they were finally heading home. But now, home has become a national disaster.
At the dining hall and recreational facility here, stunned soldiers have been glued to TV sets, following the death and destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. They have watched as the rising waters submerged their hometowns and neighborhoods. With no news from friends and family at home, excitement over going home has turned to anxiety.
“I’m just worried about what shape my house will be in,� said Pfc. Chris Ashbey, a veterinary assistant from Covington who has family there and in New Orleans. “Hopefully, we won’t be going back to a total wreck,� he said. “All the phone lines are down. I haven’t been able to talk to anyone in my family.�
Many of the 256th brigade’s soldiers have already left their trailers at Camp Liberty and are temporarily housed at Camp Striker, preparing for their journey home.
“We’re all very concerned,� said Staff Sgt. Robert Laha III of Shreveport. He said some of the soldiers also feel bad that they are not available to help their home state.
Hurricanes have traditionally been identified with the National Guard, which is called up in times of natural disasters to provide emergency relief services. Many of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 48th Brigade Combat Team soldiers, also stationed at Camp Striker, were sent to Florida last year to help with hurricane cleanup. But since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, several Guard units have been sent to the combat zone in Iraq alongside active duty units.
“It’s part of our job as National Guard to help,� said Laha, who studies acting and helps build theatrical sets in Shreveport. “And we’re not there.�
Louisiana Guard troops left behind have been getting help from the neighboring states of Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama. That’s the way it ought to be, said some Louisiana soldiers. Their service to the country, they said, took precedence over hurricane duty.
Spc. Dustin Roberts, a construction worker from New Orleans, said he had done his part to “help the country.� No matter what shape his apartment was in Kenner, he was glad to be going home.
“The hurricane is bad but it doesn’t seem that way compared to what we’ve been through,� he said.
For Guard, Monday is no holiday from labor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Camp Striker, Iraq — “We’ve got a holiday coming up?” Pfc. Tony Curry asked about the upcoming Labor Day holiday.
It might be the most unnoticed holiday of all here in Iraq, where soldiers will observe Labor Day with just that � more labor.
Bita Honarvar/AJC
Spc. Dexter Spruille of southwest Atlanta is looking forward to some fun on Labor Day, as he will be on leave. See more photos
“It’s kind of hard to keep up with holidays here,” Curry said. “It’s the same here every day.”
That doesn’t mean soldiers of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 48th Brigade Combat Team won’t be doing a little bit of wishful thinking come Monday.
“I usually start early in the morning,” Curry said, licking his lips over the thought of slow-cooked ribs on the grill. “That way when you get ready to eat them in the evening, they fall off the bone.”
Maybe the chow hall at Camp Striker could cook some up?
“That’s a good one,” laughed Spc. Eric Nesbitt, who works with Curry in the 148th Support Battalion’s ammunition holding area.
“Maybe they will,” said Curry. “But it doesn’t feel very special with the atmosphere around here.”
Spc. Richard Marker, who stands guard at Striker’s recreation facility, said he definitely won’t be celebrating the way he normally would at home in Jonesboro.
“I’d be getting into trouble by setting off large amounts of fireworks I shouldn’t be setting off,” Marker said. “We usually have some left over from July Fourth that we set off on Labor Day.”
This Monday, Marker will be back at his post, checking identification cards of soldiers entering the two tents that house a gym and a sitting area with a television, video games, reading material and a small area where soldiers watch movies.
“Every day is labor day here,” Marker said.
Sgt. Tracy Chisholm said that were she in metro Atlanta, she’d head to Perimeter Mall on Monday to check out the Labor Day sales.
“I’d buy makeup, clothes and a bunch of girly stuff,” said the manager of a Bank of America branch in Dunwoody. “The PX here doesn’t cut it for me.”
Spc. Dexter Spruille has figured out a way to partake in the barbecue and ice-cold beers that soldiers are dreaming of. He’s arranged to go on leave during the Labor Day holiday.
The 2003 Morris Brown graduate plans to attend a football game and possibly check out a few clubs in Buckhead. Spruille figured everyone would want Thanksgiving and Christmas off and his chances of going home to Atlanta then would be slim.
So he picked Labor Day.
“It’s great,” he said. “It’s the last holiday of the summer. I’m looking forward to having some good fun.”
