Prayers for the 172nd

I just wanted to say that my thoughts and prayers are with the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team and their families.

Deployments are never easy, extended deployments are never easy, and finding out just as your soldier was about to head home--that has to be difficult. A big understatement, I know.

The welcome home signs were already up; weddings, vacations, and moves were in the works; some of the troops were even back in the states when the word came down of an extension of their tour of duty in Iraq.

I know they will do their job, and the spouses and parents and kids will do theirs, but I also know their hearts are breaking. Some will be silent, others will express their heartache (A Mom Asks Bush to Reconsider). I don't know why this particular decision was made. I will not second guess in an area I don't know. Still, there is a part of me who asks, "How is this fair? Why extend a unit about to return home?"

If I may be a little selfish, I am going to say that I hope we don't start seeing more extended tours again. It is hard enough to imagine what these families are feeling--I'd rather not get a personal vivid illustration of their frustration and deferred hopes.