The Army Reserve's 855th Quartermaster Company said goodbye to friends and family Monday morning in South Bend. This is the unit's first deployment to Iraq, and they'll spend more than a year there. (WSBT photo)
Story Created:
Nov 10, 2008 at 1:10 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Nov 12, 2008 at 1:23 AM EDT
SOUTH BEND — More than 100 local families saw their loved ones off Monday, headed for a year in the war zone. Nearly 120 soldiers with the Army Reserve's 855th Quartermaster Company left South Bend Monday morning for Iraq.
For many of these reservists, it will be their first tour in Iraq. This unit has been preparing for almost a year.
The troops first learned about this deployment 10 months ago. Military leaders are calling this unit one of the best prepared and most intensely trained group of reservists in the war so far.
They are packed, trained and ready for war. But saying goodbye isn't as easy.
"Yep, it's pretty tough," said Spc. Kyle Farkas of Walkerton.
Farkas, a father of three and husband to Victoria, is heading to Iraq for the first time.
“I just wanted to serve my country, and I've been in the military for almost 10 years now and it's been one thing I've always wanted to do," he said.
For these army wives, it's the hardest thing they've ever had to do.
“I'm scared. I'm scared of what he's going to have to go through and what he's going to have to see. And I'm scared of being away from him that long. My kids are gonna miss him and it's gonna be hard," said Brittany Castro, whose husband is being deployed.
If there's any solace, families find it in the 10 months these soldiers have spent training — preparing more intensely and more extensively, military leaders say, than ever before.
“This is part of the new process we go through that the Army Reserve revamped about 15, 18 months ago," explained Lt. Col. Todd Ressel of the U.S. Army Reserves. "This is a new way of doing business. The unit gets briefed and they've had secure briefs all the way through in their area on where they're going to go and what they're going to do and what their mission is."
There is time for one last hug, one last kiss, one last goodbye and hundreds of prayers for a safe return.
Monday night this unit will be at Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin. They'll spend the next few days there finishing up paperwork and doing even more training before flying to Iraq.
When they reach Iraq, they'll be playing a support role, providing a little bit of anything from escorting convoys, to standing watch at the guard tower.
This unit will be home and finished in about 400 days.
