By John Karcher News 3
MADISON, Wis. -- Just as the news that
SPC Michelle Witmer died in combat was beginning to sink in ... came a double whammy that's left 32nd Military Police Company family members reeling. Their sons and daughters, husbands and wives won't be coming home any time soon. Sunday's news that the 160-member company is being extended by four months is absolutely devastating. I learned late Sunday that the MP unit, set to return to Wisconsin on April 26, was informed its services would be needed for another 120 days. The National Guard says it's out of their hands -- this is an Army decision.
I was flooded with e-mails and phone calls from concerned family members from around Wisconsin. Many of them spoke of feeling "betrayed" by the government and "lied to". The 32nd has been extended several times since stepping foot in Iraq May 9, 2003, and top officers were en route to Kuwait to set up the company's transition camp when word came down.
Making the extension even more miserable is that the company will be leaving Mustang Base and moving to an area that, according to Lt. Col. Tim Donovan of the Wisconsin Army National Guard will provide them with "less of a danger." That doesn't match up with e-mails I received.
SPC Jason Riley of Darlington wrote: "I may be going into a more hostile area. Why, I don't know. We have newer units coming in that could go. I so wanted to be out of here. I was looking forward to coming back home and out of the fire. Yet, I will be driven in deeper inside the frying pan."
SPC Danielle Robinson of Madison wrote: "Normally I am an optimistic person but right now I feel weak, and I can not stop crying as I write this. I want to go home. I can not handle this stress, it is really hard and now we have 4 more months of battles and combat. This has been the worst Easter ever in my life".
Carla Olson of Oshkosh, who's husband, Nate, was with Michelle Witmer when she was killed Friday wrote and said, "He just kept saying over and over why this had to happen. He also said that she was a true soldier and that we all should be very proud of her. He indicated to us that everyone in the unit was crying and so very upset. It was by far the worst day for all of them so far. So many emotions were going through their minds. For being in the National Guard they have been through so much over there. I guess the only comfort that they found around them was the news that they were going to be heading home within a week or so. But most of all, the fact that their source of comfort was that they knew they were coming home...and it was ripped from them, is an outrage. Enough is enough....we need our family home."
Theresa Carson's brother, Fred, of Middleton is a member of the 32nd who went to Iraq to fight terrorism, so it doesn't have to be fought here, wrote to say the extension "feels like a cruel joke..please keep them in your prayers."
The father of SFC Chris Reynolds wrote to say "we all feel very much let down and can not believe they are doing this to a National Guard Unit. I can not even think of how bad the 160 members feel for all the work they have done there and the death of Michelle on top of all this."
Company members have been transitioning home for some time now, sending some of their personal belongings home and preparing for the ride out in two weeks. Some family members expressed concern Sunday night that they would be extended without their armored vests and Humvees. While I've had no contact with the military, I can say that would be very, very unlikely.
So, now they will be moving to a new base for 120 days, perhaps a tent city, perhaps in a more hostile area, perhaps without computer access, perhaps without air conditioners, perhaps without some of the personal effects that made life in a war zone a little easier. Soldiering has always been tough. Monday it gets much tougher. For the first time in 60 years, the Wisconsin Army National Guard has recorded a combat death. The Adjutant General of the National Guard, Maj. Gen. Al Wilkening, will order flags flown at half staff at Guard Headquarters on Wright Street and at armories across Wisconsin.
Lastly, I recall my interview with the 32nd Company commander, CPT Scott Harold Southworth. While in Baghdad, Southworth told me the single most important source of motivation and strength and morale for the soldiers comes from the family members back home. Never do they need you more.
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