National Guard Families Worry About Iraq
 

By REBECCA COOK
Associated Press Writer

SEATTLE - At Melissa Turnage's office, the normal morning gossip about work issues and weekend plans has given way to news about troop movements and casualties in Iraq.

Dick Dahlgard holds a photograph of his daughter, Spc. Paige Dahlgard, as he stands in his photo shop Thursday, April 8, 2004, in Burien, Wash. His daughter is a mess cook with the 81st Armor Brigade's 181st Support Battalion. The 21-year-old flew to Kuwait from Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert three weeks ago and was scheduled to convoy into Baghdad either yesterday or today, her father said. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
  

A few months ago, Turnage left her job as a battered women's shelter director in Oak Harbor to serve as a sergeant in the 81st Armored Brigade of the Army National Guard.

Her brigade, made up of about 3,200 men and women, arrived in Iraq this past week just as U.S. troops faced fierce fighting.

"Especially right now with things seeming to escalate over there, we're really concerned," said Diane Jhueck, executive director of Citizens Against Domestic Violence, where Turnage works.
 

Nearly 50 U.S. servicemen and women have been killed in Iraq since fighting escalated, starting with the March 31 slaying and mutilation of four U.S. civilians in Fallujah.

On Sunday, gunmen shot down a U.S. attack helicopter in western Baghdad, killing its two crew members. Nearly 650 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq since U.S. forces entered Iraq in March 2003.

Jhueck said she's heard her staff talk often about their fears as they compare notes from news reports, trying to learn where Turnage is and if she's OK.

"It made this whole thing more real than anything else I've heard about the war," Jhueck said.

Calls to the Family Support Center for the Washington National Guard have spiked in the past week as families desperately seek information about loved ones facing a yearlong deployment in Iraq.

Denise Whitten, a family assistance coordinator for the Support Center, grew up as an Army brat and married a Navy man. Now she helps National Guard families navigate the stresses of military life, from health insurance to separation anxiety.

"They're not used to dealing with the military," Whitten said.

Dick Dahlgard said he is confident his 21-year-old daughter, Spc. Paige Dahlgard, can handle herself in tough situations.

"Let's put it this way ‹ she's wearing an expert badge on her uniform that says 'grenade,'" Dahlgard said with a chuckle.

Still, he worries when he reads about Iraq casualties in the newspaper. Paige Dahlgard, a military cook, was about to transfer from community college to the University of Washington when she was activated for duty in October.

"She went over with a positive attitude and she's not front line combat, but I'm praying every day that she's safe," said Dahlgard, who owns a camera store in Burien. "It's the type of thing where you hope that everybody around you is as good as you are."

Verlene Wilson said her husband, Lt. Col. Steve Wilson, a brigade chaplain, has special protection: "He has guardian angels around him," she said.

Steve Wilson is the pastor of Light and Life Christian Fellowship in Post Falls in neighboring Idaho. In his absence, she is handling the administration and children's ministry, while others attend to adult members of the congregation.

The Wilsons have two grown sons, two grown daughters and 10 grandchildren in the area.

"The grandchildren miss grandpa," she said.

Verlene Wilson said she does not fear for her husband's safety.

"It's the Lord's will that he go over there," she said. "When the Lord is ready to take him, it doesn't matter if he is going down the freeway or there in Iraq."

___

Associated Press Writers Kristen Gelineau and Nick Geranios contributed to this article.
 
 
 
 

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