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First batch of Stryker soldiers return home

Aug-17-2005 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

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By Christian Hill, The Olympian

FORT LEWIS — As she watched more than 60 soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 25th In-fantry Division, reunite with their families Tuesday, Lynnette Beagle lamented that her own husband’s homecoming is weeks away.

“I’m excited for the girls who get their husbands home, but we’ve got a month or so before we get our husbands,” said Beagle, whose spouse, Kevin, a troop commander in the unit, is set to return in mid-September. “I just hope we get the rest of the guys home safe and quick.”

Hours later, the Pentagon released the identity of the 33rd member of the brigade to be killed since it deployed to Iraq in October. Spc. Jose L. Ruiz, 28, of Brentwood, N.Y., died Monday during a drive-by shooting in Mosul.

His death brought a sad conclusion to what Col. John Pepper described as a great day for Fort Lewis in brief remarks to the returning soldiers before he released them to their families.

The soldiers who returned Tuesday make up half of the advance team that will pre-pare for the arrival of the remaining soldiers. The advance team’s remaining soldiers are set to return today.

Their arrival signifies that the brigade’s deployment is coming to an end. The bulk of the brigade’s soldiers will return next month and into October.

The brigade, more commonly known as the nation’s second Stryker Brigade Combat Team, is based in Mosul and conducted security and stability operations throughout northern Iraq. [...]


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