It was good to see them again. They reflected on their training days at Fort Knox in April 2003. I remember my visit to the base in Kentucky well too. A videographer and I joined some soldiers for a convoy attack training exercise. I remember hiding in the woods along a road waiting for the trucks to pass by. Within minutes a tick started crawling across my shoes. I was ready to waive the white flag and surrender! After the exercise, the guys in the back of the Humvee with us were sharing numbers. "I got 9." "I had 11." I wondered what they were talking about, until I watched them pass a hat filled with ticks!
What the men say they remember most about their service in Iraq was the wonderful homecoming the community gave them when they arrived back in Lafayette. The streets were lined with hundreds of people. Men, women, and children were cheering and waiving signs and American flags as the unit's bus arrived back at the Reserve Center. The soldiers say that day was one of the happiest days of their lives.
