Tearful goodbyes in Concord (Ca Nat'l Guard leaving for Iraq)

[n2doc]

Tearful goodbyes in Concord
California National Guard unit facing tour in Iraq keeps up brave face for loved ones
Steve Rubenstein, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, May 11, 2007

A California National Guard detachment tossed its duffle bags into a truck Thursday and said goodbye to the city of Concord.
Concord, much of it with tears its eyes, said come home in one piece.
"This thing is so crazy,'' said Christy Arellano. "Over there, you never know who's going to do what.''
Over there means Iraq, not an easy word to say for the families of departing soldiers. Arellano held her 16-month-old daughter in one arm and hugged her Iraq-bound husband, Carlos, with the other.
"Daddy's going to Iraq,'' Lt. Carlos Arellano, 29, told his daughter, Ayiana. "You don't get to go. Just Daddy.''
The three of them hugged. Eyes were dabbed all around.
Arellano and two dozen fellow members of Detachment 1 chowed down on chocolate chip cookies baked by the lieutenant's wife and stood at parade rest inside the Guard armory on Willow Pass Road while the mayor of Concord made a farewell speech. The citizen soldiers tried to stay upbeat about how the National Guard these days seems to be doing most of its guarding in Iraq instead of the homeland.
"I guess this is not what I had in mind,'' said Pvt. Brian Cole, 24, of San Lorenzo, a former high school wrestler. He said he had enlisted in the Guard "because it seemed cool and I thought I'd check it out.''









more
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/11/MNGRIPPB1L1.DTL

How many times does this have to repeat? A whole nation held hostage by 28% of the population, the propaganda MSM and one man's bloated, diseased ego.