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Soldiers on their way to war

Aug- 1-2005 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By ROSEMARY SHINOHARA, Anchorage Daily News

Jose Joya, 23, and Josh Wilson, 26, best friends since Day 1 of basic training, said they were a little anxious Sunday afternoon, waiting for the call to march onto a charter plane and off to war for a year.

"I can't really pinpoint it," said Wilson of Indianapolis.

Joya said his mind was racing, thinking about his recent leave back home in Brownsville, Texas, and everything he did with his cousins, and anticipating what's ahead.

The two were among 70 Army soldiers and two Air Force members that boarded a plane at Elmendorf Air Force Base on Sunday afternoon as an advance guard for the biggest Army deployment from Alaska since the Vietnam War. About 3,800 soldiers from forts Richardson and Wainwright are to ship out for Iraq during August. They are from the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team and will use 300 of the new Stryker units, eight-wheeled armor combat vehicles that carry soldiers.

Another advance group of the 172nd from Wainwright was scheduled to leave from Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks on Sunday night.

By late afternoon at Elmendorf, the soldiers had said goodbye to friends and family members and were waiting in a hangarlike building filled with benches for the next phase of their service. Dressed in camouflage gear, some stretched out with eyes closed. Many talked in small groups.

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