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Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Short leaves help GIs look to end of Iraq duty
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sgt. 1st Class Vincenzo Battaglia has been away from home on duty longer than he has been married. This year, he considered himself lucky: He arrived home the afternoon of Thanksgiving Day just in time to eat turkey with his wife, Tricia.
But his short leave was soon over and Battaglia, 41, was heading back to join his unit, the Georgia Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment, stationed in Scania, Iraq.
It was difficult, no doubt, for the paramedic from Roswell to once again leave the woman he married on Valentine’s Day last year and his three German shepherds that he affectionately calls his “children.”
He missed Christmas with Tricia in 2003, just before they got married, when Battaglia was deployed stateside with a medical unit. This year, he will be across the globe in a nation ravaged by war.
“This one is really hard on her,” Battaglia said recently as he waited to board his plane to Germany at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. He was joined by several of his friends from the 108th, who were also returning to their posts in Iraq.
As hard as it was going back right before the Christmas holidays, some of the soldiers were eager to get on with it.
“I want to go back and get it over with as fast as I can,” said Sgt. Michael Perez, who saw his grandson, Luke, for the first time during his leave at home in Columbus. “It was a miracle seeing him.”
Battaglia said coming home was in some ways a shock to the senses.
“You realize that this is reality. This is what our lives are really like,” he said.
He jolted out of bed one morning when he mistook loud thunder for the sound of mortars. He got jittery when cars on the highway pulled up right next to him. In Iraq, cars must stay away from U.S. military vehicles.
Battaglia is ready for his tour to be over and resume his life in Roswell when the 48th completes its one-year deployment in May.
For now, he would get on the plane with one small backpack — and a lot of determination.
