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thedrifter
04-27-08, 07:48 AM
04/27/2008
Returning Marine optimistic about progress in Iraq
By SARAH MOORE , The Enterprise

BEAUMONT - A returning U.S. Marine reported that, from his perspective, the situation in Iraq is improving and the Iraqi people are making progress toward becoming self-sufficient.

Cpl. Kory Briggs, 27, reunited with his family early Saturday when his flight got into Houston.

He said coming back to Texas was great - and what made it even better was the greeting he and his fellow Marines got when they returned.

A colonel and a sergeant major were there to congratulate them for a job well done, and the Marines had a Houston police escort back to their drill center.

His family was thrilled to have him home from Iraq in one piece.

"It's a great feeling, it's a great feeling," his father, Tommy Briggs repeated.

His mother, Jean Briggs, was visibly relieved at Kory Briggs' safe return.

"The stress level is way down," she said. "We're really blessed."

His toddler twin boys were wary of him at first - when he left seven months ago they weren't even walking yet.

He's just glad to be able to be with them now as they're learning to talk and explore the world.

Briggs missed his family more than anything else.

He said the holidays were the hardest times to be away from home.

Mostly, he missed the little things people generally take for granted: going to the store when they want to, having a home-cooked meal, making a phone call when he wanted to.

Briggs plans to return to Dallas, where he'd been living before his deployment, and get back to work on his master's degree in resource management.

Briggs' job was overseeing communications for his unit - a crucial component of combat.

He was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal, an honor bestowed for outstanding professional conduct or leadership.

Briggs said the award rightfully belonged to his whole department, because without them, he would not have been able to accomplish his objectives.

Briggs admitted being nervous when his flight took off for Iraq seven months back.

"It would be a lie if I said I wasn't," he said.

Lurid images of battles, roadside bombs and ambushed troops, courtesy of CNN, flashed through his mind.

But then he thought about the months of intensive training he'd been through, and that calmed him.

"I was ready," he said.

Fortunately, his unit saw no major drama during its deployment, he said.

"Everyone from our unit made it home," he added.

As his 18-month-old twin boys toddled around the living room of his parents' Beaumont home, and his fiancé, Yvette DeLeon, looked on, Briggs expressed optimism about the war in Iraq.

He said the people in his area were happy to have a U.S. military presence, because it meant peace and stability.

Wherever they went, children mobbed them for candy - a seemingly universal phenomenon for U.S. troops abroad.

"The people wanted us there," he said. "...It's a beautiful thing that there is progress and hopefully it will continue."

Briggs said he felt U.S. military presence in Iraq is important to combat terrorism.

"I love my country," he said. "I don't want (terrorists) coming over here, so we have to take care of it over there."

Ellie