thedrifter
10-17-05, 06:49 AM
Now home, KCK-based Army unit kept Marine air base in Iraq humming
Soldiers ‘ran a city in the desert’
By MIKE RICE
The Kansas City Star
Regina Ellis spent a year in Iraq helping to keep a key Marine Corps air base up and running.
Ellis, of Platte City, now is home and making up for lost time with her son Trevor, who turns 13 this month. They are watching movies, playing pool, putting up Halloween decorations and visiting Weston.
“I missed his 12th birthday last year,” said Ellis, an Army staff sergeant for the 326th Area Support Group, based in Kansas City, Kan.
“He was a little man when I left, but he’s not anymore.”
On Sunday, Trevor proudly videotaped his mother as she and more than 100 other members of the 326th were recognized at a “welcome home” ceremony at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7356 in Parkville.
The 326th, which deployed to Iraq in September 2004, served as a garrison headquarters at Al Asad Air Base and was responsible for utilities.
The 326th also provided an array of administrative duties, such as improving the living quarters, building and upgrading physical-fitness facilities and an indoor swimming pool and putting fast-food resturants, a gift shop, a beauty shop and a barbershop on the base.
“These soldiers ran a city in the desert,” said Col. George Harris, commander of the 326th.
Harris said that from that air base, Marines went into Fallujah to curb insurgents’ attempts to stop January’s parliamentary election.
“You own a piece of that history,” Harris told the soldiers.
Maj. Gen. Rita M. Broadway, commander of the 89th Regional Readiness Command, commended the soldiers for leaving their jobs, communities and families to serve in Iraq.
“You will hear ‘thank you’ a lot in the next few days, and you should never get tired of that,” she said.
Harris thanked family members for enduring a year without their loved ones. “I am as proud of all of you as I am of them (the soldiers), and that is saying a lot.”
One of those loved ones, Channa Clemens of Olathe, married Master Sgt. James Clemens two months before his unit was deployed.
Clemens said she found a lot of activities, such as yoga, to keep herself occupied.
“You need to stay strong so that your spouse doesn’t worry about you,” she said.
And now that her husband is home, Clemens said, “I’m ready to start my married life.”
To reach Mike Rice, call (816) 234-5903 or send e-mail to mrice@kcstar.com .
Ellie
Soldiers ‘ran a city in the desert’
By MIKE RICE
The Kansas City Star
Regina Ellis spent a year in Iraq helping to keep a key Marine Corps air base up and running.
Ellis, of Platte City, now is home and making up for lost time with her son Trevor, who turns 13 this month. They are watching movies, playing pool, putting up Halloween decorations and visiting Weston.
“I missed his 12th birthday last year,” said Ellis, an Army staff sergeant for the 326th Area Support Group, based in Kansas City, Kan.
“He was a little man when I left, but he’s not anymore.”
On Sunday, Trevor proudly videotaped his mother as she and more than 100 other members of the 326th were recognized at a “welcome home” ceremony at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7356 in Parkville.
The 326th, which deployed to Iraq in September 2004, served as a garrison headquarters at Al Asad Air Base and was responsible for utilities.
The 326th also provided an array of administrative duties, such as improving the living quarters, building and upgrading physical-fitness facilities and an indoor swimming pool and putting fast-food resturants, a gift shop, a beauty shop and a barbershop on the base.
“These soldiers ran a city in the desert,” said Col. George Harris, commander of the 326th.
Harris said that from that air base, Marines went into Fallujah to curb insurgents’ attempts to stop January’s parliamentary election.
“You own a piece of that history,” Harris told the soldiers.
Maj. Gen. Rita M. Broadway, commander of the 89th Regional Readiness Command, commended the soldiers for leaving their jobs, communities and families to serve in Iraq.
“You will hear ‘thank you’ a lot in the next few days, and you should never get tired of that,” she said.
Harris thanked family members for enduring a year without their loved ones. “I am as proud of all of you as I am of them (the soldiers), and that is saying a lot.”
One of those loved ones, Channa Clemens of Olathe, married Master Sgt. James Clemens two months before his unit was deployed.
Clemens said she found a lot of activities, such as yoga, to keep herself occupied.
“You need to stay strong so that your spouse doesn’t worry about you,” she said.
And now that her husband is home, Clemens said, “I’m ready to start my married life.”
To reach Mike Rice, call (816) 234-5903 or send e-mail to mrice@kcstar.com .
Ellie