Readjusting Lives Not Easy for Soldiers

[Rose Siding]

snip>
Lives throughout Zapata's unit were turned upside down after Sept. 11, 2001, when his 333rd Military Police Unit was activated to guard Chicago's airports.

Its members were able to return to civilian life after several months, but in April 2003, they were deployed again -- to Iraq. Some members left college; others put relationships on hold or postponed career plans. All knew they might not make it home.

For months, they guarded military supply lines in the desert, then policed the infamous Abu Ghraib prison following an abuse scandal there. They lost one colleague -- Sgt. Landis Garrison, 23, of Rapids City died April 29 when his pistol fired as he cleaned it, according to the military. That was the month they expected to return home but learned as they waited to board a plane that their stay had been extended.

When the soldiers finally reached their base in Freeport in July, they were met with tears, hugs and signs reading "Welcome Home."

But for some, the return hasn't been easy after living so long with the camaraderie of their unit, the structure of military life and the dangers of war...........

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-soldiers-coming-home,0,5502103.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. the stress of being in a war zone

is something that can take years to get over. And those IDIOTS at the RNC had the audacity to belittle Purple Hearts. I wish they all had the opportunity to take over for some of these guys who are deployed to Iraq and then have their time extended. Then maybe they would understand.

[AndyTiedye]

2. Do Soldiers Really Shoot Themselves Accidentally While Cleaning their Gun?

> died April 29 when his pistol fired as he cleaned it

I am no expert on guns, but don't you take the bullets out of a
gun before cleaning it? And why would the safety be off?

Sounds like the military doesn't want to admit that promising
troops they are going home, and then breaking that promise,
just might make some of them suicidal.