Deployment reflections
Monday, November 27, 2006 11:57 AM PST
Pat Caldwell
Argus Observer
Payette
Overpasses still bother Fruitland's Perry Goodman.
The Idaho Army National Guard sergeant said he still casts a wary eye toward the roadway arteries on his daily commute from Fruitland to Boise, even though he knows he is in Idaho and a long way from Iraq.
Still, the memories of his one-year deployment to Iraq with the Idaho Army National Guard's 116th Brigade Combat Team - including keeping watch on overpasses, a favorite ambush point for insurgents - are often hard to shake.
Traffic occasionally also makes him nervous he said.
“The traffic on the freeway, I find myself irritated and I'm looking for people on an overpass,” Goodman said.
For Goodman and several other area Guardsmen and their spouses interviewed recently at the Idaho Army National Guard Armory in Payette, the past deployment to Iraq is in many ways still a constant companion.
For most, though, the deployment marked a milestone in their lives and with their families and became a focal point of strength, endurance and perseverance.
Perry Goodman's wife, Melody, said the deployment was a challenge. She said she entered into the nearly one-year absence of her husband by concentrating on short-term goals every day.
“You try to take the day and deal with it,” she said.
Melody Goodman also said she gathered strength from her faith to help her through the absence of her husband.
“The Lord, I trusted he (Perry) would come back safe,” Melody Goodman said.
Still, her faith did not prepare her for the many daily, minor problems that cropped up while her husband was in Iraq.
“There were a lot of changes. Things were a lot more stressful. There were just things that Perry would go out and fix. Things he just did,” Melody Goodman said.
Melody Goodman said, though, that her family - two twins, Rebecca and Brandy Goodman - learned to overcome those challenges.
“I can repair anything on a toilet now,” Melody Goodman said with a smile.
For Idaho Army National Guardsman Robert Guy, 43 and his girlfriend Jackie Andre, 35, the deployment arrived at a crucial time.
“We had just started to date when I decided to come back in and deploy,” Guy said.
Melody Goodman and Andre both said they tried to avoid watching television news while the 116th was deployed in Iraq.
Sometimes, though, it was hard to escape the daily news about the war in Iraq.
“After a while you just had to block it out,” Andre said.
Still, even without the news spilling out from the television there would be stressful moments during phone calls she said.
“Bob would call and you would hear the sirens go off (in the background) and then the phone would go dead. Two days later he would call back and say everything was OK,” she said.
Andre said she just tried to focus on the future and keep busy while Guy was deployed.
“Just work on today and deal with what comes,” she said.
Goodman, Guy, Drew Miller 23, and Michael Hagan, 26, all deployed as members of the 145th Support Battalion, a former unit of the Idaho's 116th Brigade Combat Team.
While all three said they are moving forward with life, several also mentioned there were challenges to making the transition from fulltime, active duty soldier back to civilian life in western Idaho.
For Miller, 23, the transition from the deployment to his civilian job proved to be easy.
“Work was easy to go back to,” Miller said.
For Hagan, one major chore was a switch in priorities.
“Over there it was just, you take care of yourself, and you're used to that. You come back home and it is a whole different kind of stress. Definitely a transition,” he said.
Melody Goodman said at one point, just after her husband returned from Iraq, she had to start driving because Perry was still focused on vehicle techniques in Iraq.
“He was on the center lane. But they are trained that way,” Melody Goodman said.
Perry Goodman does not drive the centerline of the roadway anymore, but he said he still deals with fresh memories of Iraq.
“Its still ongoing. There are things that really frustrate you that you should be getting used to,” Perry Goodman said.
Perry Goodman had one advantage over many Guardsmen in the 116th BCT - he had been to Iraq-Saudi Arabia area before, during 1991's Operation Desert Storm. A lot, he said, had changed between 1991 and the deployment of the 116th.
“During the first Gulf War I had two calls in nine months. This time we were getting in touch nearly every day,” Perry Goodman said. All four Idaho Guardsmen said they were proud of their service in Iraq but are worried about that wartorn nation's future.
“One of my biggest fears is, I don't want to feel like it was for nothing. There are a lot of good people in that country. They are not all terrorists. I don't want to see that thrown away,” Perry Goodman said.
Miller said often the true nature of the conflict in Iraq could be distorted.
“A lot of people don't look at the fight issue. The terrorism going on over there could easily be going on over here,” Miller said.
Hagan said he is glad he served in Iraq.
“I'm proud of what I've done and I would go back in a heartbeat,” he said.
While the deployment was tough, Melody Goodman said the experience, in a strange way, helped her family.
“We're stronger now, I went through a tough time (during the deployment) but he's back,” she said.
Andre said she learned one key lesson during the deployment and the absence of Guy.
“Don't waste time with what you have,” she said.
Pat Caldwell is the editor of the Argus Observer. He can be contacted at PatC@argusobserver.com
