St. Helens National Guard soldiers prepare to go back to Iraq, again

By Kelly Moyer And Cecelia Haack

The South County Spotlight, Mar 11, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (6 Reader comments)

Photo by Cecelia Haack / The South County Spotlight

YOUNG LOVE — Spc. Bo Suiter smiles at his wife, Sierra, during a recent send-off dinner at the St. Helens Elks Lodge for local members of the Oregon National Guard being deployed to Iraq this summer. The 19-year-old couple says their faith in God will pull them through Suiter’s first deployment to a war zone.

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It was meant to be a celebration, but it’s hard to party when the threat of going to war hangs over your head like a bad joke.

Still, the men and women from the Oregon National Guard’s St. Helens division did their best to remain cheerful and optimistic at their goodbye dinner hosted by the St. Helens Elks Club at their local lodge on Sunday, March 8.

“Reality is setting in,” said Staff Sgt. Chris Baker. “And the fact that there’s still so much to do at home … it’s a little overwhelming.”

The local National Guard unit has been called up for redeployment to the Middle East. Most members will get their official call-up orders the first week of April.

Baker, 37, is preparing to say goodbye, again, to his wife, Karyn, and their two young children when he ships off for Iraq this summer.

Baker signed up for the National Guard 12 years ago after serving four years with the U.S. Marine Corps. He didn’t figure he’d ever be in the war zone, but multiple deployments to the Middle East haven’t made him bitter.

“It’s not what I signed up for … but for myself, personally, I think we need to be there to help our other brothers in arms. We have to help them have time to decompress,” Baker said.

But leaving for war — some for the third or fourth time — when you signed up to help with things like floods and forest fires, can be disheartening.

Sgt. Bryan Cory, 37, joined the military more than 19 years ago, but said he thought he’d be helping his country by responding to natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, which Cory did assist with during the recovery efforts. But going off to war again has taken a toll on Cory. Asked how he handles telling his four children, ages two to 13, about his next redeployment, Cory fights off tears and says, in a whisper, “I don’t talk about it with them. I don’t want to scare them.”

For younger members of the Guard, going off to war is different.

Pfc. Christopher Frost, 19, said he’s excited about being deployed. In fact, said Frost, excitement was exactly what he was looking for when he joined the Oregon National Guard last year.

Frost’s mother isn’t so excited. She’ll have two sons in Iraq this year and is, according to Frost, “freaked out.”

Near Frost, another young man was ready for his deployment to Iraq.

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