Army Capt. Ryan Oliver was staying with his parents in Virginia when he heard Osama bin Laden had been killed.
His parents were “ecstatic,” he said, but they weren’t expecting their 26-year-old son to cancel his flight back to Afghanistan, where he traveling Monday.
“They know we’ve got to go back,” he said. Oliver’s wife, 2nd Lt. Samantha Oliver, who was also bound overseas said bin Laden “Is just a piece of the puzzle.”
The Olivers were among the military personnel streaming through Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Monday – some arriving back home to the United States from service overseas, some being sent back to active duty. All welcomed the news from Pakistan, but most with areserved appreciation like the Olivers.
Bin Laden's death is a clear victory for the United States. But the war against international terrorism is far from over, say the men and women on the front lines.
All agreed, there is more work to be done.
Some soldiers who had served overseas in conflicts prompted by the 9/11 attacks that bin Laden masterminded, greeted the news with mixed emotions.
Lt. Col Joe Gabriel, brigade officer with the Army's 37th Infantry Brigade, and headed for Eastern Afghanistan, said he saw an increased sense of unity Monday, but added “It’s tragic that we have to celebrate somebody’s death to bring us together.”
Gabriel, 42, of Columbus, Ohio, served during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and was in western Iraq when Saddam Hussein was captured. He said the reaction to the capture among tribal leaders was violent and chaotic, as competitors struggled for the upper hand.
“I had never seen anything like it,” he said. He doesn’texpect that kind of free-for-all in Afghanistan, but anticipates an unsettled time.
Apparently others anticipate the same. The desk clerk at the Columbus airport, seeing Gabriel in his battle dress uniform, was concerned for his well-being. “She asked me ‘are you sure you want to fly today dressed like that?’”
Gabriel laughed. “Believe me ma’am, I’ve been a bigger target,” he said.
There was no apparent heightened anxiety over flying Monday. Wait times at the security checkpoint were no longer than usual at Hartsfield-Jackson, and there was no more fanfare than usual at the arrivals gate, where homeward-bound soldiers are greeted each morning by members of the USO.
Lt. Col. Ryan Connelly, also waiting at Hartsfield to travel back to the Afghanistan theater, was among soldiers who saw the positives of bin Laden’s death outweighing any negatives.
“It was a major victory,” said Connelly, 41, of Lansing, Mich., “and a lot of people needed that victory: people that lost folks, or who know people that lost folks. I think it’s good news. On the world stage, credibility is important, and this increases our credibility.”
Connelly, a battalion commander with the Army's 37thCombat Brigade, had spent some leave withhis family in Lansing. His wife fell asleep as he watched news reports late Sunday night, but “the first question out of her mouth this morning was ‘have they shown any pictures?’”
The photographs, said Connelly, will be crucial. “You know they’re going to need those pictures,” he said. “You know if you’re a sheepherder in the mountains, DNA won’t mean anything to you. You’ll need to see a picture.”
Gabriel said he went to bed at his Columbus, Ohio home before the news broke, but “my Blackberry exploded at 6 a.m. .” The first message was from an active duty friend. It read: “The bastard’s dead.”
About bin Laden’s burial at sea, Gabriel speculated “in the end they couldn’t find a country that would inter him. . . He’s a bad martyr to host.”
More than photos, Gabriel wants to see the video footage of the operation that killed bin Laden. He guesses he’s not the only one. “Don’t you know that someone at Wikileaks is going crazy right now trying to get that footage.”
Staff Sgt. Darlene Hardingwasn’t exactly pleased to have her viewing of “The Apprentice” pre-empted Sunday night.
It was her last evening of television watching before heading back to Kuwait, and as a 28-year Army National Guard veteran, she cherishes her leave-time activities. Particularly television. Particularly television featuring Donald Trump, who she thinks makes a good presidential candidate.
Then the 45-year-old Rhode Island native realized it was President Obama doing the pre-empting. “At first I was, ‘what the hell does he want?’” she said, pausing Monday at Hartsfield-Jackson before a military flight would take her to Camp Virginia, Kuwait.
“Then when I heard what the news was, I was all ears.”
After watching the Sunday night celebration outside the White House , where thousands gathered to chant “U.S.A.!” or sing the national anthem, Jackie Holt, of Topeka Kansas was dismayed. Holt, 60, a nurse, was catching a flight to an art-gazing vacation in Barcelona.
“I think as a nation it’s never a good thing to rejoice in someone’s death,” she said.
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