GI'S UP CLOSE

Inevitably when one who doesn't know Soldiers gets to know them they come away amazed.

On this leg of my journey, the Guard soldiers were the biggest wonder. Crude, loud and scatological sometimes, especially when goofing on each other, they treated me gently always. Most are half my age. For their protection and care I will be forever grateful. They showed incredible dedication to their mission, real affection for one another and a surprising tenderness toward Iraqi civilians.

Parks said the soldiers would sometimes take a rucksack full of milk, MREs and other healthy food items out past Checkpoint 3 and into the Red Zone and "kids came out of nowhere" to get the treats.

Specialist Javier Fernandez of Lakeland said, "Most of the people we met on patrols invited us into their businesses and offered us tea."

And Specialist David Cook of Orlando said he once escorted an older Iraqi man into the convention center building and noted the man had to stop and rest because he couldn't walk any further. He looked very poor, and Cook impulsively handed the old man $40 American. The man asked someone in Arabic what the bills equaled in Iraqi dinar. The official exchange is about 2,500 Iraqi dinar to a dollar, so that was a LOT of money. When told how much, the man's face lit up and he said he could now pay his rent and buy food for his family...

These tough but gentle guys will be boarding trucks Monday to head home.

I'll be parting company with friends. Soldiers always give each other nicknames, and I ate with, shaved next to, and laughed with guys with nicknames such as Chavez, The Professor, Beans, Snack, T-Bone, Bow Factor, CNN, Shrek, BamBam, Dirt Urchin, Diggity Dog, Malachi, Triple-A, Meat Lover, Meat Lover Jr., Baby Phat, Glenda, Chub Rock, Javiddam Fernssein, and the four Docs...

Godspeed, guys! You'll be back in the U.S.A. before me.