250 Stryker Brigade soldiers make early return to Fort Lewis from Iraq

FORT LEWIS — Cynthia MacDonald spent nearly 14 months waiting for her son to come home from Iraq. She did a lot of praying. And she tried to stay positive, hoping good thoughts would help keep the bombs and bullets away.

"No matter what, you can't get down in the dumps because that's when bad things start to happen," MacDonald said.

Thursday, MacDonald got a chance to hug her 23-old-year son — Spc. Joseph MacDonald — as some 250 soldiers from the 4th (Stryker) Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division flew back to the post. They are some of the earliest arrivals of more than 3,500 brigade soldiers who are leaving Iraq in the weeks ahead as part of a broader reduction in U.S. combat troops under way for this spring and summer.

The 4th Brigade left for Iraq in April 2007 — about a month ahead of schedule — as part of President Bush's increase in combat troops amid a spiral of sectarian and insurgent violence that had dramatically increased the death toll of Iraqi citizens.

In the months that followed, the brigade was involved in some tough, dangerous duty as it patrolled in Baghdad and in the fall joined in a campaign to improve security in Baquoba, Diyala province, an area that had been a stronghold among Sunni insurgents and al-Qaida.

"From what I saw there, and what my buddies saw, there was a 100 percent turnaround from the things that we did there," said Spc. MacDonald.

The 4th Brigade patrolled in high-tech, armored Stryker vehicles. Untested in battle, these vehicles were an innovation at the start of the war, but have emerged as an important component of the U.S. combat presence in Iraq.

During the deployment to Iraq, 37 members of the Fort Lewis brigade were killed, part of a larger toll of 198 Fort Lewis soldiers who have died in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The brigade left Fort Lewis at a time of considerable strain as the Army entered its fifth year of war in Iraq. The brigade was initially not a full strength due to injuries and other issues but the situation then improved, according to brigade officials.

The brigade had been scheduled to stay in Iraq as long as 15 months as part of the buildup of some 30,000 additional troops as the Bush Administration sought to improve security. That additional troop strength in Iraq is ebbing by summer's end, leaving about 140,000 troops in Iraq.

MacDonald said he didn't expect to be home until June, and "was surprised and very thankful" to find out about his May return.

MacDonald's mother and his wife, Jeanine MacDonald, moved from California to Washington to be close to Fort Lewis. Cynthia MacDonald opened her home to the relatives of another soldier for a joint welcome-home dinner Thursday. The featured dish is Tinga — a spicy specialty from Mexico.

Cynthia MacDonald hopes that this is the last time her son, and his brigade, deploys to Iraq.

"It's time for them to come home from there and Afghanistan," MacDonald said. "It's time for a new beginning."

Hal Bernton: 206-464-2581 or hbernton@seattletimes.com