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Ft. Rich Stryker Brigade soldiers head to Iraq

Aug-16-2005 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

Link to Full Article (Photos included)
by Angela Unruh

Anchorage, Alaska - They're headed to one of the deadliest places in the world. Tuesday, 131 soldiers from Bravo Company of the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment at Fort Richardson left Alaska for a year-long deployment to Iraq.

These soldiers are part of a 3,800-person team that makes up the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. They're replacing a Stryker team from Fort Lewis, Wash., which has already lost 32 of its 4,000 soldiers since entering Iraq in October.

You wouldn't know these men are headed to an extremely dangerous place. Many soldiers laughed at the Joint Mobility Center on Elmendorf, waiting to board a plane for Iraq.

“Everybody's nervous, everybody's got the butterflies, nobody really likes leaving home,” said Cpl. Cody Faust, 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, Bravo Company (right).

Some passed the time by sleeping, others made last-minute phone calls to loved ones, but the task at hand was still on everyone's mind.

“If I let myself down, then that's me. But I don't have that option because if I make a mistake I put all their lives in jeopardy and they're more important to me than anything,” said 1st Lt. John Turner, Bravo Company, 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment.


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