By Lisa Horn, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Friday, July 16, 2004
WIESBADEN, Germany — The 1st Armored Division’s colors were uncased on familiar ground Wednesday night when the commander, Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey, and a small group of soldiers set foot on Wiesbaden Army Airfield for the first time since the division deployed more than a year ago.
Festive music played over loudspeakers and patriotic banners decked out Wiesbaden Army Airfield’s Hangar 1036 as anxious friends and family members waited inside. [...]
About 3,000 1st AD troops have returned, and roughly 12,000 more soldiers are due back by August, according to a division spokesman.
The division was extended for three months on April 19 to help combat a surge of violent uprisings.
“The division is back,” said rear detachment Command Sgt. Maj. Maria Echevarria.
“Even though we still have soldiers ... that are downrange, they’re coming back. This [ceremony] is to say, ‘We’re coming home.’”
1st AD unfurls colors back in Wiesbaden
The 3-2 is scheduled to follow the 1st AD out of Iraq sometime this fall.
[Link to Full Article]By Lisa Horn, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Friday, July 16, 2004
WIESBADEN, Germany — The 1st Armored Division’s colors were uncased on familiar ground Wednesday night when the commander, Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey, and a small group of soldiers set foot on Wiesbaden Army Airfield for the first time since the division deployed more than a year ago.
Festive music played over loudspeakers and patriotic banners decked out Wiesbaden Army Airfield’s Hangar 1036 as anxious friends and family members waited inside. [...]
