Hiller reservists return home
LUZERNE TWP. – Members of the 298th Transportation Company Detachment 2 were expected to arrive at their home base in Hiller early this morning following a 15-month deployment that included nearly 12 months in Iraq. About eight of the 19 members activated May 6, 2004, were to return to Hiller around 1 a.m. by bus, according to Sharon Johnston of Dawson, the sister of one of the reservists, Sgt. Wendy Stephens. The others, she said, had made their way home by private transportation.
Members of the 298th had been attached to the 223rd Transportation Company out of Norristown and trained with that unit for several months before being deployed to Iraq last Aug. 3, Johnston said.
It was the unit’s second deployment in two years, though the unit went only as far as Fort Mead, Va., on the first deployment. Johnston said this call to duty was much more sobering for the families and the reservists, with the reality of the hazards of war hitting the unit on its first mission.
“As they were crossing from Kuwait into Iraq, one of their trucks hit a landmine and they lost two soldiers from the 223rd from Norristown. I remember her calling me and you could tell she was terrified. Nobody expected that to happen as soon as they got there,” Johnston said.
Those were the first and last casualties the unit suffered in Iraq, Johnston said. She said the unit was commended in a special ceremony for successfully completing 100 percent of its missions.
Johnston said her sister called or wrote often while she was in Iraq.
“She missed home. She honestly felt they were doing their best over there and she said a lot of the Iraqi people are really nice people.”
Stephens is a student at Penn State-Fayette, the Eberly Campus, when she is not on active duty with the Army Reserve. Johnston said so far her 22-year-old sister has only managed to complete one semester because of her two deployments. While she has encouraged her sister to take some time off, she said Stephens has said she intends to return to college with the start of fall semester.
“When she came home for her two-week leave in March, I’d noticed a change in her. I honestly hope that this is the only time in this war she has to serve,” Johnston said.
Johnston said her family has a strong military history. Her father served in Vietnam and two of her three brothers have served in Iraq in either this war or the first Gulf War in the Navy.
“We’ve dealt with deployment before, but to actually have a soldier on the ground, it made us more fearful,” Johnston said.
She said her 17-year-old brother has talked about joining the military, though members of the family have been trying to dissuade him.
Johnston said she has always considered her sister her best friend, but the war has brought them even closer.
“We actually have charms on. We got a heart that splits in two. One half says ‘Big Sister’ and the other says ‘Little Sister.’
“I’ve worn mine continuously since she’s been gone. I told her I wouldn’t take it off until she was home to take it off. I honestly feel like I’m getting my best friend back,” Johnston said.