On Veterans Day, thoughts are with deployed soldiers

Jace Radke

Thursday, Nov. 11, 2004 | 11:14 a.m.

Kimberley Irenze was planning on thanking the veterans in Las Vegas this morning at the annual Veterans Day parade, but when she gets home this evening she'll be thinking about her husband and brother-in-law as they drive supply trucks in Iraq.

"When I come in and my family is watching the news they try to change it real quick so I don't see it," said Kimberley, whose husband, Marco, is deployed with the Nevada Army National Guard's 1864th Transportation Co. "There is a real stigma attached to being in the convoys over there because you are high profile. That's who is getting attacked, so you can't help but worry.

The 160 soldiers with the Henderson-based unit, including Marco, a 30-year-old sergeant, and his brother Massimo, a 25-year-old sergeant, arrived in the Middle East last week. The unit flew to Fort Lewis, Wash., on Aug. 19 for training and then headed to the Middle East in what is scheduled to be an 18-month deployment.

Russell George returned from a seven-month stint in Iraq about six weeks ago, and he said he understands the worry that families have for their loved ones.

"It all depends on where you are over there," said George, a 27-year-old Marine sergeant, who has eight days left before being discharged from the military. "The worst thing you can be in is a convoy, but if you aren't where the worst fighting is it's not too bad.

"I was at an air base in the Western part of Iraq and we'd get rocket and mortar attacks. You just have to hope they don't hit you."

Kimberley Irenze said the hardest part as been not being able to talk to her husband as often as she'd like.

"When they were at Fort Lewis (Wash.) it was less permanent," Kimberley said. "We could go up there for the weekend or they could come back here and visit.

"Now we don't know what they are doing."

Tom George, Russell George's father, said that he'll be thinking about the veterans who served with him in Vietnam today as well as the soldiers fighting in Iraq.

"I keep in mind that there are people whose sons are still over there," said George, a local chapter president of the Vietnam Veterans of America. "I just hope that we can get things done quickly over there and bring everyone back home."

Tom George, who served as a Marine sergeant in Vietnam, said that he is happy with his son's decision not to reenlist after eight years in the military.

"What bothers me about what's going on in Iraq is that the United States tries to abide by a certain moral code, and the enemy doesn't," George said. "It's hard to see what they do to our troops."

The 1864th could find itself in dangerous areas in Iraq depending on where they are tasked to haul water, ammunition and supplies on their tractor-trailers.

The family members of the 1864th were scheduled to march in this morning's parade with a banner that reads, "Got Freedom?" and shows a large picture of the 1864th.

"The families are excited to get out there and thank all the veterans and let everyone know that the 1864th is doing its part," Kimberley said. "It will probably get harder as we celebrate Veterans Day and the other holidays that are coming up, but you have to have faith and pray."