thedrifter
11-19-07, 09:32 AM
Iraq vet has full supply of grit
Traci St. Denis coordinated materials distribution and stuck around for two years after tour was up
By DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Monday, November 19, 2007
COLONIE -- Traci St. Denis moved quickly from stocking The Desmond to supplying all of Iraq.
In 2004, the Army Reserve captain left her executive assistant job at the hotel and conference center to volunteer for overseas duty as a supply route coordinator. Now, three years later, she has returned home to Latham to replace her bullet-proof vest with an apron.
But like many returning servicemen and women, St. Denis is going through a readjustment period at home. The soldier, private contractor and wartime blogger isn't struggling, but three years in Iraq has certainly changed her. She says the heady experiences were so moving that she sometimes finds it difficult to relate to the person she was prior to deployment.
"I am less 'everything is peaches and cream,' " St. Denis said recently while making a chicken dinner in her Route 9 home. "And I have greater appreciation for the little things."
Working in Iraq taught her to slow down and appreciate "what so many Americans take for granted: leaves, grass, home-cooked meals," St. Denis said. The 37-year-old is learning to live without nervous energy and responsibility, and says she has far less patience for whining.
Hearing a friend complain that a store didn't have a specific color of Ralph Lauren home paint grated on her.
The Desmond was a wonderful place to work, but returning to the job would be impossible because St. Denis feels she would have no tolerance for "complaints about pillows not being fluffy enough."
A lot of her returning colleagues also feel a bit misplaced, she said.
"We basically are kind of an island of misfits. There's nothing that's going to be as emotionally fulfilling as rebuilding a country," St. Denis said.
Her feelings are common among returning vets because the Iraq conflict has not engendered a sense of shared sacrifice in the United States, said attorney Greg Rinckey, who represents soldiers and Marines.
"Part of the problem is the U.S. is not really a country at war," Rinckey said. "This isn't like World War II when you had everyone rationing. It's definitely something I see."
Most vets have a totally different outlook on life when they return from a war zone, Rinckey said. "They see people scrounging to just live, going through garbage to find meals and people blown away at any moment," he said. It's hard not to be touched by that, Rinckey said.
St. Denis was born two months prematurely in Niskayuna in 1970. Doctors gave her a slim chance at reaching her teen years.
Always the fighter, St. Denis survived and graduated from SUNY Cortland. During college, she joined the Army Reserves in Syracuse. She had always wanted to be a soldier, or a firefighter like her dad, Bob Stewart.
St. Denis has red hair, green eyes and likes to tell jokes. Several years ago, she, her father and brother all had the Scottish Lion Rampant tattooed on their arms. On the Fourth of July in 2003, she married her husband, Scott, wearing a red, white and blue dress. All guests were required to wear the colors of the flag.
Scott is a foreman for the Colonie Highway Department and assistant chief of the Boght Fire Department. He's happy to have Traci home.
"I'd have to say she's more open to family things, holidays and stuff," he said.
St. Denis always loved being around action.
She waived the Army's 30-day deployment notice when volunteering for Iraq. Days later, she landed in Baghdad's Green Zone to work as a logistical coordinator with the 1st Battalion, 391st Regiment of the 98th Division (Institution Training). Her task: organize and ride in dangerous convoy missions across Iraq to ensure its police units received necessary equipment.
In Iraq, St. Denis distributed critical supplies under the threat of possible insurgent attacks, an Army spokesman said.
She earned a Bronze Star for coordinating more than $800 million of supplies to Iraqi police. Separately, the Army honored her with a Joint Service Achievement Medal for arranging the movement, palletization and aerial support of more than 500,000 rounds of ammunition and weapons aboard an Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter with less than 12 hours' notice.
The job's hair-raising duties were perfect for the adrenaline junkie and made it hard for her to leave the country at the end of a year, despite being diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and suffering hearing loss.
So St. Denis parlayed her skills and worked in-country another two years as a civilian contractor for PWC Logistics, a Kuwaiti-based private contractor. Her salary jumped to six figures. She supervised deliveries of hospital beds, voting machines and more to Iraqi ministries from bases in Baghdad and southern Iraq.
In May 2006, St. Denis suffered a heart attack while on the job. She had to be brought back by a defibrillator. She was sent to Landstuhl Hospital in Germany to recover. Weeks later, she was back in Baghdad.
"I don't know what caused it," she said, adding that she's still taking medication for her heart.
St. Denis became part of a first generation of war bloggers starting in 2005, relaying her experiences from abroad almost weekly to readers of timesunion.com.
"It was the kind of therapy you don't have to pay for," St. Denis said of the writing.
She left Iraq because she was worried about burning out. But she believes the country will turn into a tourist destination within 20 years.
St. Denis still finds it difficult to be around fireworks, or walk around corners in the grocery store or mall. Driving without scanning the horizon for potential bombers is always a challenge.
"You never really test yourself until you go into a war zone," St. Denis said. "I'm much stronger emotionally and physically than I thought."
For now, she's happy to be at home cooking for Scott. But St. Denis says she's thinking about volunteering as a disaster relief coordinator for the Red Cross.
"I need to help people, fix things and feel that adrenaline," she said.
Dennis Yusko can be reached at 581-8438 or by e-mail at dyusko@timesunion.com.
Ellie
Traci St. Denis coordinated materials distribution and stuck around for two years after tour was up
By DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Monday, November 19, 2007
COLONIE -- Traci St. Denis moved quickly from stocking The Desmond to supplying all of Iraq.
In 2004, the Army Reserve captain left her executive assistant job at the hotel and conference center to volunteer for overseas duty as a supply route coordinator. Now, three years later, she has returned home to Latham to replace her bullet-proof vest with an apron.
But like many returning servicemen and women, St. Denis is going through a readjustment period at home. The soldier, private contractor and wartime blogger isn't struggling, but three years in Iraq has certainly changed her. She says the heady experiences were so moving that she sometimes finds it difficult to relate to the person she was prior to deployment.
"I am less 'everything is peaches and cream,' " St. Denis said recently while making a chicken dinner in her Route 9 home. "And I have greater appreciation for the little things."
Working in Iraq taught her to slow down and appreciate "what so many Americans take for granted: leaves, grass, home-cooked meals," St. Denis said. The 37-year-old is learning to live without nervous energy and responsibility, and says she has far less patience for whining.
Hearing a friend complain that a store didn't have a specific color of Ralph Lauren home paint grated on her.
The Desmond was a wonderful place to work, but returning to the job would be impossible because St. Denis feels she would have no tolerance for "complaints about pillows not being fluffy enough."
A lot of her returning colleagues also feel a bit misplaced, she said.
"We basically are kind of an island of misfits. There's nothing that's going to be as emotionally fulfilling as rebuilding a country," St. Denis said.
Her feelings are common among returning vets because the Iraq conflict has not engendered a sense of shared sacrifice in the United States, said attorney Greg Rinckey, who represents soldiers and Marines.
"Part of the problem is the U.S. is not really a country at war," Rinckey said. "This isn't like World War II when you had everyone rationing. It's definitely something I see."
Most vets have a totally different outlook on life when they return from a war zone, Rinckey said. "They see people scrounging to just live, going through garbage to find meals and people blown away at any moment," he said. It's hard not to be touched by that, Rinckey said.
St. Denis was born two months prematurely in Niskayuna in 1970. Doctors gave her a slim chance at reaching her teen years.
Always the fighter, St. Denis survived and graduated from SUNY Cortland. During college, she joined the Army Reserves in Syracuse. She had always wanted to be a soldier, or a firefighter like her dad, Bob Stewart.
St. Denis has red hair, green eyes and likes to tell jokes. Several years ago, she, her father and brother all had the Scottish Lion Rampant tattooed on their arms. On the Fourth of July in 2003, she married her husband, Scott, wearing a red, white and blue dress. All guests were required to wear the colors of the flag.
Scott is a foreman for the Colonie Highway Department and assistant chief of the Boght Fire Department. He's happy to have Traci home.
"I'd have to say she's more open to family things, holidays and stuff," he said.
St. Denis always loved being around action.
She waived the Army's 30-day deployment notice when volunteering for Iraq. Days later, she landed in Baghdad's Green Zone to work as a logistical coordinator with the 1st Battalion, 391st Regiment of the 98th Division (Institution Training). Her task: organize and ride in dangerous convoy missions across Iraq to ensure its police units received necessary equipment.
In Iraq, St. Denis distributed critical supplies under the threat of possible insurgent attacks, an Army spokesman said.
She earned a Bronze Star for coordinating more than $800 million of supplies to Iraqi police. Separately, the Army honored her with a Joint Service Achievement Medal for arranging the movement, palletization and aerial support of more than 500,000 rounds of ammunition and weapons aboard an Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter with less than 12 hours' notice.
The job's hair-raising duties were perfect for the adrenaline junkie and made it hard for her to leave the country at the end of a year, despite being diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and suffering hearing loss.
So St. Denis parlayed her skills and worked in-country another two years as a civilian contractor for PWC Logistics, a Kuwaiti-based private contractor. Her salary jumped to six figures. She supervised deliveries of hospital beds, voting machines and more to Iraqi ministries from bases in Baghdad and southern Iraq.
In May 2006, St. Denis suffered a heart attack while on the job. She had to be brought back by a defibrillator. She was sent to Landstuhl Hospital in Germany to recover. Weeks later, she was back in Baghdad.
"I don't know what caused it," she said, adding that she's still taking medication for her heart.
St. Denis became part of a first generation of war bloggers starting in 2005, relaying her experiences from abroad almost weekly to readers of timesunion.com.
"It was the kind of therapy you don't have to pay for," St. Denis said of the writing.
She left Iraq because she was worried about burning out. But she believes the country will turn into a tourist destination within 20 years.
St. Denis still finds it difficult to be around fireworks, or walk around corners in the grocery store or mall. Driving without scanning the horizon for potential bombers is always a challenge.
"You never really test yourself until you go into a war zone," St. Denis said. "I'm much stronger emotionally and physically than I thought."
For now, she's happy to be at home cooking for Scott. But St. Denis says she's thinking about volunteering as a disaster relief coordinator for the Red Cross.
"I need to help people, fix things and feel that adrenaline," she said.
Dennis Yusko can be reached at 581-8438 or by e-mail at dyusko@timesunion.com.
Ellie