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Good News - Redeployment Status Report:
I sent an email to COL Dan Shanahan, rear detachment CO of 4ID/TF Ironhorse, asking if he had a statement on how the redeployment is going. Here is his response, sent out on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 24:
We are running two plus weeks ahead on our return airflow! We have 28 % still deployed, with 72 % redeployed between here (Fort Hood) and Fort Carson! We expect 95 % to have redeployed by 2 Apr 04.
Thanks to all the wonderful Family Members and Friends who make our receptions in Starker and Abrams Gyms the events of a lifetime... We are sure enjoying all those big smiles, tears of joy, and long awaited hugs.
My best Col Dan Shanahan
When I asked him if that applied to all of TF Ironhorse as well as to the Fort Hood and Fort Carson units, here is his response:
Bob, About the same - some further ahead... These numbers are certainly good news to all. Dan
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Those of you who have attended welcome home ceremonies at Fort Hood know who SSG Mack is. For you and those who will be seeing him over the coming days and weeks as he welcomes our soldiers home, here is the "rest of the story" about SSG Terrance Mack.
>From the March 18, 2004 Fort Hood Sentinel:
Returning Soldiers treated to a 'Big Mack Attack'
By Staff Sgt. Robert Stephenson
444th MPAD, 4th Inf. Div PAO
"As you leave here, remember one thing; I will be here for you when you return. That's a promise."
With those words, Staff Sgt. Terrance Mack, Personnel NCO of HHC, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division helped to send off members of the Ivy Division to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. That was more than a year ago.
Mack recently stood on the basketball court of Starker Gymnasium with a microphone in his hand as the master of ceremonies during the welcome home reception for members of the 4th Forward Support Battalion.
Just as he has done for the better part of a month for every component of the 4th Inf. Div. as they return home, Mack provides a service not only to the Soldiers, but to their families as well.
"The family members are real receptive to what I do - I get a lot of people to say thank you, " said Mack. "Even though they're sitting in the gym for hours on end, they appreciate it."
While family members crowd into bleachers, Mack not only provides them with entertainment, but also gives them information on where their loved ones are on the way home, all the while revving up the crowd and instructing them on how the ceremony will go and on the most important word they need to know - 'dismissed,' which comes at the end of the festivities.
A 17-year Army veteran, Mack has had three tours in Germany, one in Fort Benning and one at Fort Stewart. However, he is most proud of his accomplishment while here at Fort Hood, where he became the NCOIC of an all-digital Tactical Operations Center.
Although Mack would love to have accomplished his unit overseas, nature intervened.
"I had to have brain surgery, and it took me out of deployment status," he said. "Since I can't go forward, I will stay here and take care of things back home."
What has now become a full-time duty began by chance, according to Mack.
"One day I walked into the Abrams Gym and there was this guy doing it (master of ceremonies), and I thought I could do a better job, so I asked if I could take the microphone and I took it over and that's where it started."
Although the job of master of ceremonies is not a true duty position yet, it might as well be as far as Mack is concerned, but that's not why he goes to the gym almost every day.
"I don't do it because the Army says so, I do it because I like doing stuff like this," Mack said.
And then there is the other reason.
"I promised every soldier on their deployment to Iraq that I would be there for them - and I have kepy my promise."
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Thursday, March 25, 2004
Awaiting a banner day
By JOSHUA L. WEINSTEIN, Portland Press Herald Writer
Copyright © 2004 Blethen
Every night for the past year or so an electric candle has burned in the window of Richard and Virginia Chapman's house in Cape Elizabeth, a reminder - as if they needed one - of their son, an Army captain serving in Iraq. No more.
On Wednesday morning, Richard Chapman replaced the candle with a banner.
"Welcome Home Kurt," it reads.
Capt. Kurt Chapman isn't quite home yet, but he's something like close - at Fort Hood in Texas.
He was in Maine briefly this week, when his flight refueled.
"He called me last night from Bangor," his father said Wednesday. "He called us to let us know he's back in the States."
Chapman said his son was laughing during the call.
"It was in the 90 degree range in Kuwait, and when he got to Bangor, it was about 15, so that was a little bit of a shock."
A good one, though.
Kurt Chapman is a 1994 graduate of Cape Elizabeth High School and a 2000 graduate of the United States Military Academy. For the past year, his parents have thought constantly of their son, worried constantly.
"Let's say you keep one eye on the news," Richard Chapman said.
Every day, Chapman has checked a Web site for updates on his son's unit, the 4th Infantry Division.
"One day when I was online reading . . . all of the sudden I read my son's name. He and a private were riding around in a Humvee at night with the lights on, trying to draw fire. And I'm saying, that's not good for longevity.
"You don't know who your friends are there," Chapman said. "The ones that you're shaking hands with in the daytime are shooting at you at night.
"But "there's 26 million people now who have got freedom . . . that didn't have it before," he said.
He is proud of his son, who can read and write in most Arabic languages, is fluent in Spanish and can speak German and Russian.
Having him back in the United States is more than a relief.
"We've just been waiting for the day," Chapman said. "We're just really, really happy."
He said his son will be in Texas for about a month and then hopes to get to Maine for a few weeks.
A bit more than a month ago, Chapman saw an e-mail photograph of other members of his son's unit who already had gotten home. Someone had put up a banner welcoming them, and in the corner, Chapman spotted the name of the company that made the banner.
He traced the company to Texas, and ordered one for his son.
He's been waiting to put it up ever since.
"Unfortunately, I had to go out early this morning to get my car inspected, so I couldn't put it up at 7 o'clock," he said.
But he offered this: It felt just as good at 11.
Staff Writer Joshua L. Weinstein can be contacted at 791-6368 or at: jweinstein@pressherald.com
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Paratroopers remember the jump into Iraq
Story by Spc. Adrian Schulte, SETAF Public Affairs
VICENZA, Italy -- It has almost been a year since about one thousand paratroopers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade (first element of TF Ironhorse to deploy into Iraq) parachuted into war, opening up the northern front in the effort to liberate Iraq.
The March 26, 2003 jump was recently classified as a combat jump and the paratroopers who participated in it will now be able to stick their chests out with pride showing off the gold star, or “mustard stain,” that crowns their parachutist wings.
So what is it like to jump into war? Those troops, young and old, went through an extraordinary experience, one that many paratroopers can only dream of.
Many of the Soldiers had been jumping for years, but for others, this would be their first jump after airborne school. “I knew it was real when they gave us live ammo at the airfield. I knew then that there was no turning back,” recalled Pfc. Jerry Allen, Chosen Co. 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry (Airborne). “I’ve never seen so many planes in my life,” he said referring to the Air Force C-17 Globemasters waiting to take them to war.
Before loading up on the C-17’s, the paratroopers were briefed on the conditions of the drop zone. The Kurdish controlled area was expected to be friendly and little resistance was anticipated. The weather called for a pitch-black night, with no moon or stars and there was going to be fresh mud on the drop zone from the heavy storms in the prior weeks.
Once the troopers were rigged with their chutes and rucksacks, which weighed nearly as much as many of the Soldiers, they loaded up onto the lumbering jets lining the Aviano Air Base runway.
The Air Force gave each Soldier a boxed lunch for the five-hour flight. “Nobody really ate them,” remembered Spc. Christopher Holbrook, Chosen Co., 2-503rd Inf (Abn), “but we were stuffing snacks into our DCU’s to take with us.”
After the aircraft took off, the paratroopers had ample time to prepare for what lay ahead. “The mood in the plane was really serious. It looked like everybody had their head in the game,” Allen said. “I was concentrating on what I was supposed to do once I got on the ground.”
“I was more worried about how long it would take to get there and how long I was going to be sitting there in anticipation,” recalled Pfc. David Deaconson, Chosen Co., 2-503rd Inf (Abn). “Regardless of how long you are on the plane, it gives you a lot of time to think about what your commander has told you, about what conditions to expect. It sounded like a pretty friendly drop zone, but there was speculation that there was going to be resistance. And that little quip alone got people thinking they were going to be dropped into Normandy with tracers flying.”
The time for the paratroopers to make their leap into war came quickly. About 30 minutes from the drop zone, the white lights that had been illuminating the cabin were cut off and replaced by red ones, signaling “show time” was close at hand.
“I wasn’t nervous until they started going through the jump commands about 20 minutes before the jump,” Allen said. “When they turned the white lights off and put those red ones on, it was a rush.”
“Each little event after the red lights came on made your heart beat a little bit faster, regardless of what you do or don’t know,” Deaconson said. “By the time we stood up to wait for the green light, my stomach was doing somersaults. I thought for a second I might throw up and had to put my head on the parachute of the guy in front of me to get my bearings.”
“We stood up and our rucksacks were heavy as hell, so we were leaning on everything and trying not to stand up straight because it was horrendous,” Holbrook said. The Air Force loadmasters then opened the doors of the aircraft. Wind, dust and anticipation tore through the cabin. The paratroopers hooked up their static lines and did their final checks. Because they were in hostile air and because the drop zone was nestled in a valley, the giant C-17’s had to go into an intense, steep dive from 30,000 feet to 600 feet.
“We were already standing and hooked up when they went into this crazy dive,” Allen said. “When they started to pull out of it, I couldn’t stand up with all the weight I had on. All I wanted to do was get out of the bird.”
The Air Force had a narrow window of time to get the paratroopers into the air, so after pulling out of the dive, the red light by the open door was quickly replaced by a green one and paratroopers started pouring out into the night sky. “Finally the green light goes on and everybody is screaming to get out the door because nobody wants to get left behind,” explained Holbrook. “So it was a horrible exit. I pretty much fell out of the door.”
“That is when all fear left me and I just wanted to get out of the plane,” Deaconson said. “You get a one-track mind once you see that green light. It’s like being at a basketball game with everybody screaming, except everybody is cheering for you to get out of the door.”
Sixty seconds later, the Globemasters, empty of their cargo, were climbing out of the valley and the Iraqi army had a thousand more American Soldiers to deal with. It didn’t take the troopers long to fall the few hundred feet to the ground below.
“When I first hit, it wasn’t a normal landing at all because it was so muddy,” recalled Deaconson. “We expected mud but we didn’t expect it to be as deep as it was. A lot of people got stuck waist deep when they hit and didn’t get to do a proper parachute landing fall.”
The landing zone was dark and quiet as the Soldiers maintained noise discipline and collected their wits. “It was almost dead quiet once you hit the ground, you couldn’t hear a thing,” Deaconson said. “It was good, but eerie in a way. It gave you time to get your bearings. I felt drained just from stressing out so much on the plane.”
The Soldiers donned their night vision goggles and looked for their Phoenix beacon, a flashing beacon used for guidance visible through the night vision goggles. They then started trudging through the mud trying to locate their units and assembly areas.
The mud. They all talk about the mud. “It was the type of mud where you keep getting taller as you walk,” joked Holbrook. “They had us digging with our entrenching tools and you couldn’t do it because every time you took a scoop, it would stick to your shovel so you would have to scrape it off. It was a horribly laborious process.”
“It took us all night to move maybe eight kilometers,” Allen said. “We were scattered everywhere. They told us the flight strip was going to be this big dark thing through your night vision goggles. We jumped into plowed farm country and there were dark strips of land everywhere! We would walk to one dark strip and step on it, say ‘dang that’s not it’, and walk to another dark strip. The mud was so bad, my team leader and I were pulling each other in and out of it. He lost a boot in it and ended up walking half of the way barefoot.
“It was cold and wet. My weapon was a big chunk of mud. The barrel was clogged and I couldn’t get to the trigger. It was all over my uniform, my skin and my hair. Everything was mud. I spent the rest of the night pulling people out of it. It was crazy.”
Muslim prayers echoed through the valley as the day broke and the Soldiers of the 173rd got their first look at the surroundings. “When light came and I saw the country, it was nothing like I thought Iraq was going to be; it was beautiful,” Allen said.
“All you see on T.V. is the dry desolate forsaken places with traffic everywhere,” Deaconson said. “When day broke, everything was green, it was cold, and there were mountains everywhere. I remember feeling like this wasn’t a war zone that we were jumping into.”
As light poured across the land, men wielding AK-47’s greeted many of the brigade Soldiers. “Morning comes and the Peshmerga (Kurdish) guys were not 300 meters away,” Holbrook said. “They were there the whole time and we didn’t even know it.”
The Kurdish soldiers would prove themselves to be friendly allies. “The Peshmerga guys brought us firewood, rice in an old oil pan, bread and cheese, and some mystery meat,” Holbrook said. “We didn’t care what it was; we were hungry.”
“I was impressed by their generosity,” Deaconson added. “They had nothing to give, but what little they did have, they would always share. I mean, here they are bringing us bags of bread and tea when we started running low on water and MRE’s.”
The paratroopers of the 173rd made history that day and for the better part of the next year, they would work hard to help secure, stabilize and rebuild their area of responsibility. “Every time I see pictures of it or hear someone talking about it, I just keep thinking, ‘what a day!’” exclaimed Allen.
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'Boss' bestows honor on Wasilla man
PURPLE HEART: Soldier wanted commander in chief to deliver award in person.
By PETER PORCO
Anchorage Daily News
Sgt. Tyler Allen Hall of Wasilla got his wish last week. Seriously wounded in August by insurgents in Iraq, Hall wanted his Purple Heart pinned on his chest not by his commanding officer, which is a customary protocol, but by the man he calls his "boss."
On Friday, at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital in Washington, D.C., President Bush, with first lady Laura Bush and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice standing by, pinned to the 23-year-old soldier's sweater the award signifying injuries suffered in combat.
"I was just kind of amazed that he came, that I actually got what I wanted," Hall said by phone Wednesday from the Washington motel where he and his mother, Kim Hall, are staying during his treatment for his wounds. "I thought it was pretty cool."
Hall, who joined the Army soon after graduating from Wasilla High School in 1999, is now medically retired. Last year, he was in Iraq with the 14th Engineers, 555th Engineer Group, 4th Infantry Division.
On Aug. 22, a homemade bomb exploded beneath a personnel carrier in which he and five other soldiers rode as part of a convoy north of Tikrit.
All six were hurt, Hall the worst. He suffered fractures to his face, back and left arm, burns on his hands, a punctured lung and shattered left leg below the knee. The lower part of his leg had to be amputated. He also suffered brain injury and lay in a coma for a month. The Army was nearly certain he would die and in fact listed him that way originally.
But he's recovering. He was able to visit his younger brothers in Wasilla over the Christmas holidays and is back in Washington getting therapy and learning to use a prosthesis for his left leg.
The five soldiers who were injured with Hall had all received their Purple Hearts from their commander at Fort Lewis in Washington, their unit's home base. Hall wanted his from the president.
"He was very adamant about it," Kim Hall said Wednesday. "That was his boss, and he wanted the award from his boss, and he waited. Many times he could have gotten his award but chose to wait."
Hall and his family told Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young about his wishes. A newspaper story about Hall and his injuries in November stirred an Anchorage man, Don Causey.
"The kid had been through hell, and I just wanted to do something nice for him," Causey, who manages the Silver Saddle, his family's Western wear outlet, said Wednesday. "So I sent the kid a digital camera for Christmas, one I was going to buy for myself."
Causey did not know the Halls but later met them and learned of Tyler's wish about the Purple Heart. He too contacted Murkowski, Stevens and Young. "He called the right people to let the president know," Kim Hall said. Last week they got the word.
The president, whose visit with the Halls lasted about 10 minutes, stood near Tyler as an officer read the commendation, Tyler said. The president then pinned the cloth-and-metal decoration over the soldier's heart.
"He thanked me for my service," Hall said. "I just told him I finally got to meet him and was happy to meet him."
Rice congratulated Hall and also thanked him. "We talked for a second," he said. "Mom commented how beautiful she looked and everything. We talked about her being so busy and stuff and always seeing her face on TV and stuff."
Kim Hall met Bush on Sept. 11 of last year when he greeted soldiers at the hospital. Tyler was in the coma at the time. Kim spoke to the president then. On Friday, Bush told her he remembered her, she said.
"He said, 'I told you I'd be back,' " Kim said. "He kept his word to me."
Daily News reporter Peter Porco can be reached at pporco@adn.com or 257-4582.
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Incoming general has strong ties to Hood
By Debbie Stevenson
Killeen Daily Herald
Pentagon officials confirmed Tuesday that Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman will assume the helm of Fort Hood's 4th Infantry Division, which gained fame in December with the capture of ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Thurman will succeed Maj. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, who has led the division since Oct. 24, 2001, and during its yearlong deployment to Iraq.
A spokesman with U.S. Army Forces Command said a changeover date has not been set because of Thurman's current schedule as the director of the Army Aviation Task Force in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3 at the Pentagon.
"We are not sure when he will be available for command," the spokesman said.
Thurman's assignment to Fort Hood will not be his first time in Central Texas. He has family ties in the area and owns land in Salado where he and his wife, Dee, plan to retire, said Maryetta Clifton, a Killeen resident and Dee's aunt.
"I'm looking forward to having Dee here," Clifton said.
The general's arrival will mark another reunion with one of his two daughters, Carey and Jaime, Clifton said.
Carey is married to Capt. Scott Thomas, who was scheduled to return today from Iraq with the 4th Infantry. Thurman also has a young grandson, James, who was born Oct. 28 at Fort Hood's Darnall Army Community Hospital while his father was deployed. The Thomas' older children are Tyler, 5, and Todd, 12.
Jaime is married to Capt. Miles Brown, who is assigned to the war room at the White House. They have a 5-month-old daughter, Abigail.
>From June 1987 to September 1991, Thurman held a number of positions in units at Fort Hood, culminating with the executive officer slot for the 1st Battalion, 32nd Armor Regiment in the 1st Cavalry Division.
Thurman shipped to Saudi Arabia with the battalion for the 1991 Persian Gulf War before heading in July to Europe to assume the helm of the 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment in the 3rd Infantry Division.
Thurman, who commanded the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., from July 2000 to August 2002, is considered to be an expert in aviation tactics and is considered a rising star.
Since assuming his position at the Pentagon in October, Thurman has been a proponent of joint capabilities and training among the service branches, a position strongly advocated by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker. His team's review of the Army aviation role is due out in the coming months.
Speaking to Army and defense industry leaders Jan. 7 at the Association of the United States Army's aviation symposium and exposition in Crystal City, Va., Thurman said he believed aviation will play a critical role in future Army operations.
Thurman also headed up a team to review the Army's ill-fated Comanche stealth helicopter program. The Army canceled the program on Feb. 23 after sinking $6.9 billion over 21 years into producing a new-generation helicopter with manufacturers Boeing and Skikorski.
Thurman secured his first star in January 2000 and received his second star in January 2003.
He is a graduate of East Central University in Ada, Okla., where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in history. Thurman earned his master of arts degree in management from Webster University.
The Thurmans are natives of Marietta, Okla., where they met during school.
The 4th Infantry is redeploying to Fort Hood after spending a year in Iraq where it occupied a swath of land north of Baghdad that included Tikrit, Saddam's hometown. An official homecoming celebration is planned for April 22 on Fort Hood.
Contact Debbie Stevenson at deborah@kdhnews.com
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What Our Families Are Hearing From Our Soldiers in Iraq:
1) Hi Bob--Just wanted to let you know that our son is home. After 14 long months he returned on 21 March. He had called us from Kuwait to say that he would not
be coming home on the first bird. This is the first time we have talked to him since Aug.'03. He did say that he would call on Friday if things changed. The Rear Detachment calls on Fri. 19 March and says that our son is on that bird and that the welcome home ceremony would be at 1500 hours on Sun. 21 March. Our son calls tonight and says he is on that bird and would be back on USA soil come Sunday. Sunday morning rolls around and the phone rings and it is our son calling from JFK in New York. This is getting better and better. The Rear Detachment calls again and says the ceremony is upped to 1430 hours. That welcome home ceremony was the most overwhelming and joyous event we have experienced. Two planes landed with 300 soldiers. They told the soldiers not to expect too much of a homecoming and when those soldiers were lined up outside those gym doors they could hear all the shouting and cheering. It truly overwhelmed the soldiers. The program was short, sweet and to the point. The soldiers were told that they wouldn't be able to hear the commands so just do what the soldier in front of you does. We couldn't find our son for some time and once we made it to a clearing, there he was. Tears of joy!!! We loaded up his bags and then headed to the buses where the soldiers were to get on and head to the barracks. Those soldiers didn't know what hit them when this mom showed up with goodie bags, hugs, and thank yous for them. There are no words to describe the look in their faces as this family hugged them. What an experience we will never forget. Let us still pray for our soldiers still over seas and keep all those deploying also in our prayers. GOD BLESS ALL!
2) Our family has just gotten back from Fort Hood, Texas upon welcoming our son home from Iraq. He is with 2-8 Inf. He looks great. It was an experience we will never forget. Seeing all those soldiers running into Starker Gym, the National Anthem, and the great word, "DISMISSED!" Again, I thank you for helping me find the greatest FRG Leader that has ever been. If it wasn't for you hooking me up with her - I would have been at a loss. She made sure our family was there in time to meet our son. She was there for us during the emotional and hard times. May God Bless her and her family and may God Bless you for the great job of the news and helping each soldier or soldiers family on a daily basis. .... Our soldier is still at Fort Hood, but he will get leave in May to come home to Kentucky. Thanks to all of the soldiers who have returned and to all those who are deploying to Iraq. Gods speed to all of them. We will never quit praying until all have come home. Our hearts go out to those whose soldier didn't make it home, but they are looking down upon their comrades - saying well done.
3) Our son inlaw who was attached to the 4th ID from the South Dakota National Guard 200th Engineer Company arrived safely at Ft. Leonard Wood on the 23rd. We are fortunate enough to have a cousin stationed at FLW and they are providing our soldier with the love, care and attention he deserves...... I will continue to support our troops and their families in prayer until our last soldier comes home.
4) Were you at the homecoming at Abrahms Gym Sunday night? (Yes, I was - it was great). I was there waiting for my son, with 204 FSC, to get in. The children dancing in the middle of the gym, running around and having a good time, instead of being forced to sit quietly for hours, was just so much fun. When all of the soldiers came running in, I was so happy, but where was my son? I thought I saw him right in front of me. Yes, there he was. In front of where I was standing, but he was 5 deep from me. I held up my WELCOME HOME sign with his picture on it and he smiled. He had a big grin. I can imagine he was also wondering if MOM would run up into the middle of those soldiers and grab him. That smile was the best thing I have seen many years. I don't know if anything will ever top that in my eyes.
5) There seems to be some people in Maine who should have our thanks!!! Our Grandson, with HHC 1BDE 4ID, called last night about 10PM EST to say he was back in the US. He was in Maine, didn't say where in Maine, but he was using a cell phone furnished by the VFW. We could hear chatter all around and he said they were all on cell phones. ... Happy day and thanks again for all the newsletters over the past year. I am NOT, repeat NOT, asking to be taken off the mailing list.
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