Home » Archives » "Strykers return to love, tears of joy at Fort Lewis"

Strykers return to love, tears of joy at Fort Lewis

Sep-11-2007 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

By MIKE BARBER, SEATTLE P-I

FORT LEWIS -- On the day that the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq told Congress that more troops should be able to come home, a battle-weary battalion from this base did just that after 15 months at war.

The 260 soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment of Fort Lewis arrived home Monday night to sheer joy at the Sheridan Gymnasium. The soldiers are part of the 3rd Stryker Brigade, and the first main body of the brigade to come home.

A mom gasped and put her hand to her mouth as the soldiers, an hour late, began marching firmly into the gym. A dad dabbed his eyes. And children just screamed.

Knowing that the soldiers and their 300 friends and relatives had better things to do, Fort Lewis officials kept their remarks brief.

But before the soldiers were dismissed, the 1st Battalion had one last mission.

Staff Sgt. Roy Starbeck broke ranks and grabbed his girlfriend, Tonya Roberts, from the crowd and proposed. Roberts, of Spanaway, said yes.

"I just knew it needed to happen when I was over there (in Iraq)," Starbeck, of Corvallis, Ore., said of marriage.

[...]


Advertisements