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Stryker brigade homecoming

May-30-2008 » Filed Under: 4/2 SBCT

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MICHAEL GILBERT, The News Tribune

The first wave of Stryker soldiers returned to families Thursday at Fort Lewis, with many more reunions due over the next few weeks as the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division closes its grueling combat tour of nearly 15 months in Iraq.

Once all 4,000 of the brigade’s troops arrive, Fort Lewis for the first time will have all three of its Stryker brigades at home.

Not even car trouble was going to stop Elizabeth Gipe from making it for the occasion from her home in Caldwell, Idaho.

“It started overheating and leaking oil around Ellensburg,” Gipe said Thursday at Soldiers Field House at Fort Lewis. “It was about 9:30, 10 o’clock last night, and we couldn’t get a mechanic.

“So we just did a lot of praying and kept going, and we made it all the way.”

She’ll have time to worry about the car later.

For now, she’s just overjoyed to be welcoming home her husband, Staff Sgt. Kenneth Gipe, from his third deployment to Iraq.

Hundreds of spouses, parents, kids and friends packed the field house to greet their soldiers. Many family members, like Gipe, traveled long distances on short notice to be there. [...]

Related:

250 Stryker Brigade soldiers make early return to Fort Lewis from Iraq - Seattle Times


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