The Day of Fulfillment Arrives

Today I looked up my flight reservation and it said "2 days until check-in."  I remember when it said 65.  Two.  Days.  I don't think I've had this many butterflies in my stomach for Christmas since I was a kid.  And in all my adult years of hoping to re-create that childhood feeling of Christmas anticipation by receiving the greatest Christmas surprise or amazing present, how dreadfully obvious it is now that what would bring back that anticipation was just going home.  Being with loved ones.

And as I think about how excited I am to be reunited with my family, I think of the soldiers here who have been out for 9, 12, 18 months, most with a spouse and children. 

Last night I spoke to one of General Austin's aides and he talked about spending the last 15 months in Iraq with only one home leave for 18 days.  He has 4 kids and a wife waiting on him at home.  He told me that a couple nights ago he spoke to  his 7 year old son who anxiously reported that he had dug up his dad's baseball mitt in the garage and placed it next to his on his bedside table.  He told his dad that he would be counting down the days for a long awaited game of catch.   His dad asked him if it would be warm enough.  It didn't matter.   I can only imagine the joyful celebrations that will take place in so many homes across the country this Christmas season. 

Today is the day the soldiers leave.  And as I think about the 7 year old waiting at home with two mitts by his bed, it is with mixed emotions that I think about their leaving.  I'm so glad they are going home at last.  I'm also terrified they are leaving.  And I wonder how accurate all the media hype is and what is going to happen to this country - it appears to be on the brink of disaster.

I'm not the only one with mixed emotions.  I sense it when I talk to General Austin or hear an interview by General Helmick.  I hear stories from the troops I've met that illustrate all the mixed feelings they have about leaving.  They are excited to leave and to go home.  They are nervous about what will happen here.  And they want to feel like they've done their job and that they aren't walking out leaving it unfinished.  Like anyone, they want to take pride in a job well done.

It's a historic day.  Today is the day that they case (or retire) the USF-I flag in a ceremony symbolizing the full departure of the military from Iraq.  I feel surprisingly emotional and (less surprisingly) patriotic.  I would never have imagined being in Iraq to see the end of this war.  I never paid much attention to the war after the first couple of years - it simply wasn't a part of my daily life for better or worse.  But now I find myself in the middle of it.  And there is a part of me that will be proud to tell my imaginary children one day - I was there when the last soldier left Iraq.  I witnessed the end of a war from the front row.

And I hope that I won't tell them:  and I was there when they returned 3 months later.

Here's a link from the Today Show that shows some of the footage from the ceremony we shot in the morning.