OCR Text |
Show N E W S - A8 • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2008 Spanish Fork Covering what matters most FREE RIDE: Eric Shepherd, right, and Robert Brunson ride down MainStreettcourtesy of the Sp^isfiForkiF^Department. Brunson and Shepherd return from service Lindsay B. Woisey STAFF WRITER Staff Sergeant Robert Brunson and Master Sergeant Eric Shepherd were among the members of the Utah National Guards i'45th C Battery that returned home last week. In true hometown fashion, Brunson and Shepherd were met by fire department, police department, and the cities ambulances for a parade up and down Main Street. Both Brunson and Shepherd were touched by the impromptu parade. "It was good, but cold," Brunson said. "I'm used to 110 degree weather, and to get on a fire truck that was •50 degrees, that's cold/' "It's nice to see support from the hometown and the fact that people genuinely care about each other over here." Shepherd said. "I personally want to thank the fire and police and ambulance association for donating their time and coming out and welcoming us back, along with the community itself." "I'd also like to state that I'm very grateful for everything Spanish Fork City has done for my family while I've been gone." Brunson said. The 145th C Battery has been deployed to Iraq for over a year, and oversaw operations at a detaining facility. "As far as detaining operations go, I think we're doing an excellent job. We give people a chance, teach them a little bit of school, grades 1-3, 4-5, and give them some vocational skills. Hopefully when they get released they are able to put those skills to use, rather than doing what they've been doing in the past," Brunson said. Subjects taught at the detention facility include Arabic, Math and English. "We had quite a few detainees that would really absorb it, get really enthused about going to school," Brunson said. 'They were still housed in the detention facility, but we would let them out to go to school. They were all really eager to learn." Brunson returned home to wife Jeanene Brunson and their four kids. The Brunson family is happy to no longer rely on a computer to communicate with one another. "I did a lot of Skyping," Brunson said. "I'd never even heard of it until I got deployed." Both Brunson and Shepherd said one of the things they missed most, other than their families, was clean air. "It's so polluted over there. Probably a lot of it is from the dust storms," Brunson said. Shepherd agreed. "It's not green at all over there. I'm just enjoying all the trees and fresh air, and time with my family." Shepherd returned home to wife Raquel Shepherd and their three kids. "My oldest son graduated on Tuesday, so I just got home in the nick of time. And my youngest son had his birthday on Tuesday," he said. Shepherd will return to his full-time job for the National Guard in a few weeks. "I just want people to know that the troops are doing a good job over there, and we're doing the right thing. It's a political year right now, and a lot of politicians are saying a lot of things to get elected. We're doing good things over there. People need to know that," Shepherd said. "Just tell the American people to have faith in us, we're doing a good job and a lot of positive things happen. We're providing the Iraqi people with better opportunities for a better way of life." Currently, there is no scheduled date for the 145th C Battery to return to Iraq. "I'm not too concerned about getting called up again," Shepherd said. "We knew it was a possibility when we signed up. We miss our families, but that's the life we've chosen. It's better to fight terrorism over there, than to have it on our doorstep. We don't want it here; it's an ugly thing." Namon Bills / Spanish Fork News GENERATIONS OF SERVICE: Richard Banks, WWII veteran and POW, was one of the first to welcome Alan Pentico home from his tour of duty in Iraq. Young couple discusses military service from both perspectives Namon Bills EDITOR On Wednesday, May 28 Alan Pentico returned home from serving in Iraq with the National Guard 145th headquarters battery, based out of Camp Williams. Pentico was deployed for a year. The first three months were at Fort Bliss, Texas, and the last nine were in Camp Bucca, Iraq, near the Kuwaiti border. Pentico has been with the Guard for three years; this is his first deployment. Pentico said he enlisted because he wanted to serve his country. "Since I was 16 I wanted to serve," he said. "Finally the opportunity came." When he enlisted, Pentico knew he would probably be deployed — in fact, he was counting on it. It made military service seem more meaningful to him. "I felt like I would be serving more of a purpose," he said. Pentico explained that he had three different responsibilities over his nine months in Iraq. He served on a personal security detail (PSD), guarded detainees and also served as an assistant chaplain. Pentico said it's rare to switch jobs, but he did whatever he was asked to do. Petinco said one of the experiences in Iraq that stood out to him was giving gifts to families of detainees. "They encouraged families of detainees to visit. They can do that twice a month," he said. "We give stuff away to the families as they're leaving." It may seem counterintuitive for the soldiers to give presents to the people whose relatives they were detaining. Pentico explained that the gifts helped communicate the soldiers' support for the Iraqi people. "It's to let people know we support them," he said. "We want to help them as much as we can." On the PSD, Pentico was part of a group that escorted high-ranking officers off the base. They would also escort convoys into Kuwait — a six-hour round trip. Pentico said the first few times he went into the city with the PSD it was "a bit nerve-wracking," "It was dark and I was a gunner, so I was sticking out of the top of a turret," he said. "You didn't know what to look for.... Do you look for a flash? Usually if you see a flash it's too late." Luckily, Pentico never ran into trouble, and he said after a while it becaime more enjoyable to go into the city. "I got to see more of the scenery and more of the people and how they lived," he said. Pentico said it was a humbling experience seeing kids run up to the side of the road pointing to their stomachs or mouths hoping the Americans would give them food. As is the case with many soldiers, Pentico left a wife at home. But unlike most soldiers, Pentico and* his wife, Lynsie, had only been married six weeks before he deployed. Lynsie said it was a challenging way to begin married life. "I focused on one package at a time," she said. "I mailed a package every two or three weeks. That kept me going." She said she also got help from a local support group called the Family Readiness Group. She would get together with other wives for dinner once a month. "The leaders there are on top of things," Lynsie said. "They make sure you know what's going on. ... They're always there if you need anything." Now that Alan is.back home, the Penticos are making plans for the future, including visiting relatives in California. An accomplished ballroom dancer, Pentico is considering opening his own studio. But for now, he said, he's planning to take it easy for a couple of weeks. Lynsie said she's "looking forward to the future — starting our life together for real." 1 |