At least two Utah soldiers helped analyze the hiding hole where Saddam Hussein was captured, after the former Iraqi dictator was taken away by U.S. forces.
There is no indication so far that any Utahns were involved with the actual capture. Meanwhile, Utah troops in Iraq and at home were jubilant.
Diane Gundersen, West Jordan, said her husband told her about the investigation of the dictator's hiding place during a telephone call from Iraq on Sunday. Her husband is Lt. Col. Edward Gundersen, commander of the Utah National Guard 142nd Military Intelligence Battalion, stationed in Iraq.
"He just told me he doesn't want it glamorized because it's not a big deal," she said.
"There were two people from his battalion who were involved with the exploitation of the site, after the fact. After they took Saddam away, they went in and looked at the evidence."
Asked if any members of the unit were involved in the capture or provided information before forces swooped down on Saddam, she replied, "He didn't say. . . . He's only allowed to say what's already come out in the news."
Her husband is excited about American forces nabbing the dictator, and so is Diane Gundersen.
"I am absolutely thrilled," she said. "This is one of the best things that could happen."
Also elated was Lt. Col. John Pearson, a Rose Park resident stationed in Iraq who is the automation branch chief in a California Army Reserve unit.
"Yesterday was a great day here," he wrote in an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News. "In our TOC (tactical operations center) there were high-fives all around and a feeling of accomplishment for a strong team effort."
Pearson added that the troops know the battle is not over. "But the head has been cut off so it'll make it tougher for the rest," he noted, referring to those who are opposing the coalition presence.
"There was quite a lot of gunfire coming from town as people were quite excited about what was going on. For us here, we'll celebrate today and tomorrow will be another day," Pearson added.
By "town," he meant Baghdad. The communications center where he works is close to downtown Baghdad. He and others at the center heard a great deal of celebratory gunfire both at night after Saddam's capture was announced and again the following morning.
"Last night and today we watched . . . news broadcasts on AFN (Armed Forces Network) and absorbed the news like sponges: everybody's still quite pleased about what happened," Pearson wrote.
Back home, Utah National Guard spokeswoman Maj. Lorraine Januzelli said the capture was both a military and psychological victory. Bringing Saddam to justice for his atrocities "has always been a primary goal of war in Iraq and now that's going to happen," she said.
"It also may weaken the insurgent movement," she added.
The capture is "not a surprise," said CSM Scott Williams, a member of the 3rd Battalion of the 361st Regiment, Army Reserve. "I never had any doubt that we would execute the mission and accomplish what we're out to accomplish."
A Salt Lake policeman serving at Camp Carson, Williams said it is too soon to know whether Saddam's capture will hasten the day when U.S. soldiers can come home.
"My personal opinion," Williams added, "is that it's probably going to get harder for the next little while."
E-MAIL: bau@desnews.com