This story puts a human face on the plight of the 3d Infantry Division.
Enough of pounding across Iraqi sand in a tank or Humvee.
Enough of meals ready to eat and 140-degree heat.
Enough already for Army Sgt. Ben Patti, 25, a Merchantville native on a protracted, onerous stay in Iraq after being in the leading force that swept the country and took Baghdad.
"It's time to go home and be with the family," Patti said Monday during a satellite cell phone call from western Iraq. "I've been away for a year with the exception of three weeks. I have about a year left (on enlistment). When it's over, I'm done."
Patti, commander of an M-1A1 Abrams tank, and the dozen men he leads thought they were coming home in May. However, their orders changed when troops continued coming under fire well after Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled.
" `Disappointment' is the understatement of the year," he said.
Bring 'em home, please.
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