markwayne (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} markwayne) wrote,@ 2007-01-12 10:40:00 |
|
The impact on human beings of Bush's "new" plan
I don't see any "plan" at all. -MW
N.J. soldiers' tour extended
Vineland family feels impact of Bush's plan for war in Iraq
By PETE McALEER Statehouse Bureau, (609) 292-4935 and TOM NAMAKO
(Published: January 12, 2007)
TRENTON — For months now, members of the Barreca family have looked to the end of March or early April as the time when their soldier would come home from Iraq.
On Thursday, word came that the homecoming — and a June wedding date — would have to wait.
N.J. Army National Guardsman Michael Barreca, 21, of Vineland, is a member of the 117th Reconnaissance Surveillance and Target Acquisition unit. The Vineland unit is one of two in the state — the other is in Bordentown — that will see its tour in Iraq extended as many as an additional 125 days after President Bush announced Wednesday night that he was increasing U.S. troops there by 21,500.
Most of the soldiers in the Vineland unit, stationed at Camp Anaconda 50 miles north of Baghdad, are from the Cumberland County area. The unit is responsible for convoy and base security, according to officials from the state Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs.
“It's upsetting because we miss him so much,” said Barreca's mother, Kim. “We just got through Christmas, and for him not to be here, there's just a missing person. And now that's going to be extended. It doesn't make me any less proud of him. But it's hard. And now, we worry longer.”
Barreca said she learned of the extension through a phone message from a National Guard family support group. She said she listened to the message four times to make sure she heard it right. Her son called 30 minutes later and asked why she was crying. He had not yet heard the news of his extended tour, she said, and ended up passing word to several other soldiers in the background.
Between the Vineland and Bordentown units, 158 soldiers will see their tours extended.
“These were soldiers who had an internal clock clicking,” Maj. Gen. Glen K. Rieth, head of the state Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs, said in a teleconference. “They thought they were coming back in March to see their families. This is disappointing. I think the soldiers are going to have a tough period of time here.”
The soldiers now are expected to return around July or August, he said.
Gov. Jon S. Corzine met with members of the Vineland unit when he visited Iraq in December and later had some of the family members at the governor's mansion at Drumthwacket. He called the extension “inappropriate.”
“People were ready to come home,” Corzine said. “They are stressed out.”
Vineland's Faith Bible Church Pastor Paul Barreca read a message Thursday from his son Michael in Iraq: “I support President Bush 100 percent, but my only regret is that this should have been done two years ago. I want to make a difference here. I'd rather stay here longer and get this settled than have someone else come back. I want to be sure that when we leave, what we did here made a difference. Everything was OK, don't worry. Don't tell people to feel sorry for me.”
Barreca's father said he did not watch the president's speech Wednesday, but he had a good idea his son's tour might be extended.
“I think it's the right path,” he said. “We're fighting a war against terrorism, and the terrorists have made a point that America has to lose in Iraq. After we defeated Saddam, it's like we entered a second war now. We have to win that war.”
Barreca's fiancee, Daphne Chaniz-Rico of Vineland, said Michael proposed to her during a two-week break from his tour.
“It's heart-wrenching,” she said, “especially with the wedding having to be rescheduled. But we're so proud of him and we believe in all he's doing.”
Barreca lived at home and was attending Cumberland County College in 2005 when he received his orders. His father said the family gets by through prayer.
“We know what he's doing there,” Pastor Barreca said. “He has to knock down doors, looking for bad guys. It's troubling. But our faith also gives us strength. ... I've been a pastor for 23 years, and I have never prayed for one individual as much as I‘ve prayed for my son. It's not every day, it's every hour.”
New Jersey military officials will hold meetings Saturday with family members of the affected soldiers to try to explain the extension and provide assistance.
Rieth said even if the war in Iraq continues, the members of the National Guard units in Vineland and Bordentown would stay home for five years before they would be redeployed. New Jersey has 5,900 army guardsmen and 2,300 members of the Air National Guard.
“Hopefully, the one-year, five-year ratio will provide more stability for the citizen soldiers,” Rieth said. “They have had their boots on the ground in Iraq since last March.”
To e-mail Pete McAleer at The Press:
PMcAleer@pressofac.com
To e-mail Tom Namako at The Press:
TNamako@pressofac.com
I don't see any "plan" at all. -MW
N.J. soldiers' tour extended
Vineland family feels impact of Bush's plan for war in Iraq
By PETE McALEER Statehouse Bureau, (609) 292-4935 and TOM NAMAKO
(Published: January 12, 2007)
TRENTON — For months now, members of the Barreca family have looked to the end of March or early April as the time when their soldier would come home from Iraq.
On Thursday, word came that the homecoming — and a June wedding date — would have to wait.
N.J. Army National Guardsman Michael Barreca, 21, of Vineland, is a member of the 117th Reconnaissance Surveillance and Target Acquisition unit. The Vineland unit is one of two in the state — the other is in Bordentown — that will see its tour in Iraq extended as many as an additional 125 days after President Bush announced Wednesday night that he was increasing U.S. troops there by 21,500.
Most of the soldiers in the Vineland unit, stationed at Camp Anaconda 50 miles north of Baghdad, are from the Cumberland County area. The unit is responsible for convoy and base security, according to officials from the state Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs.
“It's upsetting because we miss him so much,” said Barreca's mother, Kim. “We just got through Christmas, and for him not to be here, there's just a missing person. And now that's going to be extended. It doesn't make me any less proud of him. But it's hard. And now, we worry longer.”
Barreca said she learned of the extension through a phone message from a National Guard family support group. She said she listened to the message four times to make sure she heard it right. Her son called 30 minutes later and asked why she was crying. He had not yet heard the news of his extended tour, she said, and ended up passing word to several other soldiers in the background.
Between the Vineland and Bordentown units, 158 soldiers will see their tours extended.
“These were soldiers who had an internal clock clicking,” Maj. Gen. Glen K. Rieth, head of the state Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs, said in a teleconference. “They thought they were coming back in March to see their families. This is disappointing. I think the soldiers are going to have a tough period of time here.”
The soldiers now are expected to return around July or August, he said.
Gov. Jon S. Corzine met with members of the Vineland unit when he visited Iraq in December and later had some of the family members at the governor's mansion at Drumthwacket. He called the extension “inappropriate.”
“People were ready to come home,” Corzine said. “They are stressed out.”
Vineland's Faith Bible Church Pastor Paul Barreca read a message Thursday from his son Michael in Iraq: “I support President Bush 100 percent, but my only regret is that this should have been done two years ago. I want to make a difference here. I'd rather stay here longer and get this settled than have someone else come back. I want to be sure that when we leave, what we did here made a difference. Everything was OK, don't worry. Don't tell people to feel sorry for me.”
Barreca's father said he did not watch the president's speech Wednesday, but he had a good idea his son's tour might be extended.
“I think it's the right path,” he said. “We're fighting a war against terrorism, and the terrorists have made a point that America has to lose in Iraq. After we defeated Saddam, it's like we entered a second war now. We have to win that war.”
Barreca's fiancee, Daphne Chaniz-Rico of Vineland, said Michael proposed to her during a two-week break from his tour.
“It's heart-wrenching,” she said, “especially with the wedding having to be rescheduled. But we're so proud of him and we believe in all he's doing.”
Barreca lived at home and was attending Cumberland County College in 2005 when he received his orders. His father said the family gets by through prayer.
“We know what he's doing there,” Pastor Barreca said. “He has to knock down doors, looking for bad guys. It's troubling. But our faith also gives us strength. ... I've been a pastor for 23 years, and I have never prayed for one individual as much as I‘ve prayed for my son. It's not every day, it's every hour.”
New Jersey military officials will hold meetings Saturday with family members of the affected soldiers to try to explain the extension and provide assistance.
Rieth said even if the war in Iraq continues, the members of the National Guard units in Vineland and Bordentown would stay home for five years before they would be redeployed. New Jersey has 5,900 army guardsmen and 2,300 members of the Air National Guard.
“Hopefully, the one-year, five-year ratio will provide more stability for the citizen soldiers,” Rieth said. “They have had their boots on the ground in Iraq since last March.”
To e-mail Pete McAleer at The Press:
PMcAleer@pressofac.com
To e-mail Tom Namako at The Press:
TNamako@pressofac.com
