Nevada Guard soldiers relish return

Jace Radke

Thursday, May 27, 2004 | 11:02 a.m.

Staff Sgt. George Smith didn't realize how much he missed Las Vegas until he spotted it from a C-130 Wednesday as he and 49 other Nevada Army National Guard soldiers returned from a year of duty in Iraq and Kuwait.

"It was great flying over the armory and seeing the Strip," Smith said. "I didn't know I'd miss the casinos, but the best part was popping the top hatch and flying the flag as we came down the runway at McCarran."

Smith and the other members of the Henderson-based 777th Engineer Utilities Team were greeted by flag-waving friends and family at the Henderson Armory after the 777th spent a year working construction projects in Iraq.

Spc. Justin Angell's 5-year-old daughter, Michaela, ran into his arms and wouldn't let go as other family members swarmed around him for hugs and kisses.

"My new job is getting to know my kids again," Angell said. "It feels good to be home. You miss your family and you want them to be OK while you're gone.

"It's just good to be back and see everyone."

Angell deployed with the rest of the 777th on March 18, 2003, to Fort Lewis, Wash., for training before heading to Kuwait on June 7, 2003. Angell left his pregnant wife at home with two children and missed the birth of his new daughter, Kiley, who is now 5 months old.

"We're just so relieved to know that he is back safe and that everyone in the unit is safe," Angell's grandmother, LouAnne Lopez, said. "We're just going to hug and kiss him until he can't stand it anymore.

"I just have this overwhelming feeling of thanks for these people that go over to fight for us so we can be safe."

Seven soldiers with the 777th are expected home in the coming weeks, but had to stay in Fort Lewis for additional medical care, National Guard spokeswoman 1st Lt. April Conway said.

None of the seven were seriously hurt and were recovering from non-combat related injuries suffered during construction work, Conway said.

While the family members of the 777th celebrated the return of their loved ones, another Henderson-based unit, the 1864th Transportation Co., prepared for a deployment in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

The 1864th was alerted Tuesday night that about 100 soldiers with the unit could be deployed as early as this fall, Conway said.

One of the soldiers with the 1864th said she hoped her request not to be deployed is granted because her husband was among the returning soldiers of the 777th.

Sgt. Debbie Weaver, a member of the 1864th, met her husband, Staff Sgt. Terry Weaver of the 777th, at the armory on Wednesday.

"We're just hoping I don't have to go since he just got back," Weaver said after sharing several kisses with her husband. "I flew up to Fort Lewis (Wash.) to get married to him on April 12, (2003), but we really didn't have time for a honeymoon.

"My battalion commander said that they aren't going to send me when my unit deploys, but I'm not going to believe it until I see the signed order."

Weaver's husband and the rest of the 777th worked on hundreds of construction projects in Iraq, including grading out helicopter pads, pouring concrete for tent pads, building showers and improving living conditions for U.S. soldiers.

The unit poured more than 25,600 square feet of concrete during its deployment. One of the unit's first assignments was to renovate the Al-Faw Presidential Palace near the Baghdad Airport to make it more livable for more than 700 American and Australian soldiers.

In late December the unit moved on to Abu Ghraib prison, where the soldiers completed more than 70 construction projects in 18 days. The unit removed some 6,000 tons of rubble and trash from the prison and built a small arms range so that soldiers deployed at the prison had a place for firearms training.

The unit's work at the prison will now likely be destroyed following the announcement by the Bush administration that the prison complex about 20 miles west of Baghdad will be torn down.

"When we got to that place it was one of the worst living conditions I've ever seen for our soldiers," Smith said of the prison that is at the center of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. "We must have hauled 900 loads of rubble and garbage out of there.

"It's not a place I want to ever go back to."

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., who attended the homecoming with Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., said he just wanted to say "thank you" to the soldiers of the 777th.

"They risked their lives in very dangerous situations and we can be very proud of the service they gave," Ensign said.

Staff Sgt. Brett Penny said he was proud of the job that the unit did in Iraq and called returning to Las Vegas one of the best days of his life.

"They were tough times, and we had mortars and rockets fired at us, but we did the best we could and made it through," said Penny, who added that the first thing he wanted to do when he got home was to take off his boots and not have to put them back on the next day.

The first thing on Spc. Jimmy Armstrong Jr.'s mind after meeting his family at the armory was food.

"I'm going to have to go to In-N-Out Burger," said Armstrong, who had just completed a two-year Mormon mission prior to deploying in March 2003. "After that I'm going to have to go get a life."

Armstrong said that his time in Iraq gave him a new perspective on his life.

"I talked to a lot of Iraqis and many of them were happy to see us," Armstrong said. "They live simple lives and just wanted us to help them, but when you get back here you have people complaining about gas prices.

"It gives you a different perspective when you've seen a little Iraqi kid running alongside a Humvee asking for food."