Shaffer
01-05-04, 08:01 AM
For North County's military community, 2003 ended almost as it began: with tens of thousands of local Marines and sailors preparing for war in Iraq.
As many as 25,000 local troops are scheduled to leave San Diego ports for Iraq in the next few months, almost a year since more than 45,000 local Marines and sailors deployed there to end the regime of Saddam Hussein.
An additional 20,000 local troops will follow in the autumn, all of them scheduled to spend at least seven months fighting insurgents in western Iraq.
For thousands of Marines, Iraq will be familiar territory.
For many of their families, the deployment will be the second long separation in a year.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/01/04/opinion/1_3_0418_27_55.txt
As many as 25,000 local troops are scheduled to leave San Diego ports for Iraq in the next few months, almost a year since more than 45,000 local Marines and sailors deployed there to end the regime of Saddam Hussein.
An additional 20,000 local troops will follow in the autumn, all of them scheduled to spend at least seven months fighting insurgents in western Iraq.
For thousands of Marines, Iraq will be familiar territory.
For many of their families, the deployment will be the second long separation in a year.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/01/04/opinion/1_3_0418_27_55.txt