THE BRIEFING I ATTENDED

Families of 1st Armored Division soldiers got a shock this week when they learned their loved ones would be staying in Iraq for at least three more months instead of returning home.

Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling, the 1st AD’s deputy commander, flew back to Germany from Iraq to face the spouses during town meetings Friday at Hanau, Friedberg and Giessen. The meetings were closed to the press.

“We’re trying to convey that the commanders in Iraq are very interested in the welfare of the family members here in Germany,” Hertling said. “We want them to get the most up-to-date information on not only what’s happening in Iraq but also how well [the soldiers] are being supported down there.”...

One spouse in Hanau, who asked that her name not be used, said she felt uplifted after the morning meeting at Hanau’s Fliegerhorst gym, which she said was attended by between 300 and 400 people.

“I felt a tremendous sense of pride,” she said. “It was a shot in the arm we needed to get through this.”

The lady in Hanau is right. It was a very uplifting experience...almost every spouse I've talked to has said so. We appreciated the General's being here...and his forthrightness in the discussions with us.

I attended the briefing in Friedberg...and unfortunately it didn't end well. As was predictable there were those in attendance whose agenda didn't include listening. They came to poke somebody in the eye, by George...and poke somebody they would.

It was sad...because in my view (shared by many I've talked to) the 1AD leadership, and especially BG Hertling showed a lot of class by flying back here to talk to the family members.

That class should have been returned...but in the case of a handful in Friedberg, it wasn't.

Somehow it didn't dawn upon the two I'm thinking of in particular that everybody in the bleedin' room was under the exact same circumstances...yet somehow only they felt the need to make complete jerks of themselves in response to this remarkable reaching out by the leadership of the 1AD.

Some days I'm reminded more than usual to thank God for His blessing of my being married to the sweetest woman on the planet. Some poor souls are married to those two. Yikes.