The highest officer in the Utah National Guard found the right word for Wednesday's events.
"Frankly, it's a bittersweet day," said Maj. Gen. Brian Tarbet, adjutant of the Guard, as he and approximately 600 others waited at the Utah Air Guard base for the homecoming of the 142nd Military Intelligence Battalion.
"We welcome a great unit home," he said. "At the same time, we found out that one of our units has been extended" to serve longer in Iraq. That is the 1457th Combat Engineers, with 521 members who deployed in February 2003.
Tarbet said he has heard that an Army Reserve unit from Utah, the 419th Transportation Company, also would have its tour in Iraq extended. But that has not yet been confirmed.
"We don't know the amount of time" for the 1457th extension, Tarbet said. "We don't know the mission." It is among 15 Guard units from seven states to be extended, he said.
According to The Associated Press, about 22,000 American soldiers in Iraq, including National Guard and Reserve troops, had tours extended at least three months to help combat the surge in violence in that country. The decision "breaks the Army's promise to soldiers and their families that assignments in Iraq would be limited to 12 months," The Associated Press added.
Shortly after landing, three big KC135 Stratotankers taxied up to the crowd waiting at the side of the runway near the Air Guard terminal, 765 N. 2200 West. Family members, friends and fellow Guard members erupted in whistles, cheers and yells. They held up signs and waved flags.
The 142nd had been away from home since February 2003. First the 120 members of the linguistic group trained at Fort Carson, Colo., then were assigned to Iraq.
Family members swarmed onto the runway as soldiers walked from the aircraft. Sgt. Mike Lyon, Kaysville, hugged his fiancee, Tiffany Williams, and presented her with roses he had purchased in Colorado.
"Oh, my goodness," said Lyon, struggling to describe the Iraq duty. "I don't think you can. It's been good. It was an experience, I guess you could say, and it was hard."
Throughout the deployment, Lyon said, he kept a pillow with a picture on it showing Williams blowing a kiss. It accompanied him home to Utah.
"We're very excited," Williams said before the plane landed. "We're just thrilled they're coming home safe and well. We're just thrilled."
Lyon's mother, Lynnette Lyon, said, "I couldn't be happier."
"It's a great day," said his delighted dad, Gordon Lyon.
Father-and-son soldiers, Sgt. 1st Class Don and Spec. Mathew Sandberg of Magna, greeted their family. "Sure is good to be home. I think we did a pretty good job while we were over there. It was a long one, it was a long haul," Don Sandberg said.
Iraq has a lot of potential, he added, "if they'd stop fighting."
It was "pretty exciting," said Mat Sandberg. Staying in touch with his father made the deployment easier.
"It's wonderful. It's overwhelming" to be home, said Sgt. Amy Baird. She was from Orem when she left home, but since then her family has moved to Salt Lake City.
She and her brother, Staff Sgt. Joseph Baird, both returned on Wednesday. As she hugged members of the family, Amy Baird was nearly crying.
Her father, Lonnie Baird, was too choked up to speak.
"Oh, I think this is so wonderful!" exclaimed her grandfather, Fred Baird of Provo. "Why, we just couldn't wait to get her in our arms and hold her. We're going to hold her so tight, we're not going to let her get away from us anymore."
"It's been hard," said Marnie Smith of Cedar Hills, near American Fork. She cradled her daughter, Keylee, 5, in one arm and held a big flag in the other hand. She was waiting to greet her dad, Sgt. Earl Jack Brems, Cedar Hills. "But we're sure proud of him."
Sgt. Yader Zelaya, also of the 142nd, said that letters and cards from Utahns helped him through his extended stay. He also criticized opponents of the war for basing their opinions on news reports that he said "don't show what is really going on."
"They need to see how the Iraqi people lived during Saddam's regime and see the change that we brought about," Zelaya said from his Provo home. "But it's going to take awhile. It's not going to be an overnight change."
Both Zelaya and Chief Warrant Officer Brian Webb said they admire the troops still in Iraq, including the 1457th.
"It's gut-wrenching for me to think of the soldiers who are left behind," Webb said.
Carolyn Tolman, Draper, wife of the returning Maj. Derek Tolman, felt "huge relief" at the unit's return. But she was disappointed about the news the 1457th would have its time in the Middle East extended.
"We have good friends in the 1457th, and I'm not quite as happy today as I would have been, I think," she said.
Sgt. 1st Class Tim Woodbrey, Magna — who had returned earlier for an operation — was there to greet his fellow soldiers of the 142nd. "From what I've heard, if they had stayed there one week longer they would have been extended as well. And I'm just glad that they weren't," he said.
Sandy Talley, mother of Spec. Jared Wright of the 1457th, wrote in an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News that the soldiers are committed to serving their country. "However, these are National Guardsmen, they are not front-line combat trained. They are an engineering battalion."
Wright's first child was born while he was away and will be a year old in June. Wright was able to see his family for only two weeks, last October.
The soldiers did their jobs extremely well, Talley said. "They are exhausted, both physically and mentally. Their families have suffered economic struggle as well as a lack of emotional support for months on end."
Gennie Cartmill, mother of Sgt. Michael K. Cartmill of the 1457th, said that she and her husband are serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mexico. She received permission to greet her son on his return, which had been expected this month, and bought a non-refundable airline ticket.
She is heartbroken over the extension, she wrote.
"Our son suffers from heat, and we are so concerned about him becoming a heat casualty during the summer in Baghdad. . . . The men are physically, mentally wiped out and emotionally drained and SO ready to come home as they have been promised," she added.
Contributing: Laura Warner
E-mail: bau@desnews.com