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United again
The scene in Fauquier County this week demonstrated to returning troops that sentiment in this region was completely beside them for the last six months.
Vint Hill Farms Station showed its support, and its pride, in the reception given to a detachment of the 201st Military Intelligence Battalion returning from Persian Gulf duty early last Saturday morning.
Never mind that it was 1 a. m., or that the mercury hovered near freezing. More than 100 people stood in a cold March wind to welcome the troops as they arrived back at the base after their deployment with Operation Desert Storm.
For those who witnessed the family reunions, it was an . occasion we will never forget. This was more than a joyful homecoming after a long trip — for these families, the possibility that their loved ones might not come home was an ever-present fear for six long months.
The reception and celebration at Vint Hill was repeated across the country last week, and will continue for weeks to come as the troops come home.
The sentiments expressed by the soldiers told the story. of why America sent more than a half-million fighting men and women to liberate a tiny country on the other side of the globe. ,
It was not oil we fought for. Staff Sgt. Riley Issac ' summed up their feelings when he described his reaction as I he watched Cable News Network, and the reports of protests against the war. “Being an American . . . they have the right to protest. . . .That freedom is what we were fighting for.”
The support expressed by countless Americans in many ways — from flags flying in the breeze, to yellow ribbons on lampposts and car antennas, to the bags of cards and letters addressed to “Any Serviceman, Operation Desert Storm” — marked a deep change from the bitterness and rancor that divided the country during the Vietnam War.
Just as Vietnam tore the country apart, this war seemed ■ to unite America. Although foreign policy experts will debate for years the wisdom of our involvement in the Middle East, there is little question that our response to a bullying ■ dictator’s aggression against his weak neighbor will stand as a milestone in American history.
America still faces the same domestic problems it did when Saddam Hussein invaded Iraq last August. For six long months, most of those concerns were put aside as we ' confronted his aggression.
Those problems have not gone away.
But perhaps the new-found confidence the country has gained through the success of Operation Desert Storm can be put to a constructive use in addressing, and conquering, some * of the seemingly intractable problems facing us at home — in much the same way as our military faced and conquered the obstacles it faced in the sands of Kuwait.
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