Soldier landing at BIA doubly blessed

BANGOR – Sgt. 1st Class John Grandstaff of Missouri had much to be thankful for Wednesday when he touched down on American soil in Bangor after eight months of service in the deserts of Kuwait and Qatar.

He grinned whenever someone congratulated him or asked about the birth of his first grandbaby, a girl – news he learned by cellular phone shortly after landing at Bangor International Airport. That he was back in the United States and less than a day away from being reunited with his family was doubly a blessing.

Grandstaff was among more than 100 members of the 1138th Military Police Company of the Missouri Army National Guard who arrived in Bangor. Along with a small contingent from the Utah Air National Guard, the servicemen were the first military arrivals at BIA since Saddam Hussein was captured.

They were greeted – in what has become a tradition – by veterans and auxiliary who formed lines down both sides of the terminal walkway, waving flags and holding out their hands for welcoming and thankful handshakes.

Sylvia Thompson, a member of the Belfast post of the VFW, has attended many of the returning military flights – she injured her shoulder shaking so many hands – and she opted this time to applaud and hand out candy canes.

“It was worth it,” she said of her shoulder injury.

Cellular phones were made available free of charge to the military personnel, many of whom spent part of their brief layover in Bangor calling loved ones, letting them know they were back in America.

“Bangor … Maine,” many soldiers were overheard telling their families where they were.

That Saddam Hussein had been captured and ferreted from the dire conditions he was found in was welcome news to the troops, some of whom were stationed not far from where Saddam was located.

Tech. Sgt. Scott Prows of the 130th Engineering Installation Squadron of the Utah Air National Guard was stationed in Kirkuk, about 30 miles east, he said, from the hole in the ground and hovel that Saddam had been calling his temporary home. Prows learned about the capture not through the military lines of communication but from the raucous celebration Iraqis were having, shouting and firing guns. The gun discharges prompted some extra precautionary measures by U.S. personnel, who also had cause to celebrate.

“We had to don all of our Kevlar [bulletproof equipment] and gear just in case of the shells coming down because the people were so excited,” Prows said.

The news also came as a little bit of a surprise to Prows, who was convinced that Saddam had fled Iraq and was holed up in a neighboring country. But that aside, it was welcome news.

“It was an exclamation point on top of the job we’ve been doing for eight months to secure the Iraqi people,” Prows said. “You could tell instantly just by the overwhelming sentiments from the people themselves that they also were in appreciation – that finally they had some [conclusion] to this.”

Grandstaff was likewise pleased with the news, information he had been waiting for a long time to hear.

“I was excited,” said Grandstaff, who learned about the capture via television while eating in the chow hall. “It’s what I’ve been wanting so bad – you know, when you want something so bad and whenever it happens, it’s like, wow,” he said.

Prows and his squadron were involved with installing communications systems with equipment that includes fiber optics and satellites, something he hopes will become a lasting improvement in that country. The base eventually will be turned over to the Iraqi people for use as an international airport, he said.

“It was a wonderful thing we did over there, and I was really pleased and proud to be part of it,” Prows said.