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<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge)   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, April 29, 2007 Soldiers get a surprise gift: their memories By Jim Haley / Herald Writer CLEARVIEW - Rachel Lee cried when her younger brother disclosed that he was heading to Iraq with a U.S. Army reserve unit. When Sgt. James Lee, 21, of Everett returned unscathed to Fort Lewis last week, his sister came armed with a gift for him and about 140 other members of the 1016th Quartermaster Company. The gift was a 179-page bound journal of the reserve group's experiences. The printed version started as an Internet blog from a reporter who spent six weeks with the Idaho-based unit in Iraq. After the reporter returned home, the soldiers continued writing the blog throughout their year of deployment. "I just wanted to let the troops know they are appreciated," said Rachel Lee of Bothell, a receptionist and secretary for Fire District 7. The blog, which includes comments by some stateside family members, was a welcome surprise for the homecoming troops. "That blog is fantastic. This meant a lot to us," James Lee said via telephone. He was driving to Spokane on Thursday to bring a reservist friend home. He said the journal will help him and the others remember the events of the deployment. James Lee volunteered to go with the Idaho unit along with dozens of other Washington state reservists. His mother, Michelle Straga of Everett, said her son knew he would be called to active duty anyway, and James Lee wanted to serve with some of his friends who went with the 1016th. Idaho State Journal reporter Bill Schaefer accompanied the group for more than a month and started the blog. When the reporter returned to Pocatello, unit members kept up a daily account of their experiences. The group suffered no combat casualties, despite coming close to roadside bombs. Most of the time was spent on refueling missions or hauling material across Iraq. At one point, the unit was told that its deployment would be extended. That's when morale dipped, Straga said. When the possible extension was canceled, morale immediately rose. Throughout deployment, James Lee wore a medallion containing a childhood picture of himself and his sister. He wore it with his dog tags. Rachel Lee, 23, kept an identical medallion in her desk at work and looked at it frequently. The brother and sister have been close, but the separation and the danger of being in Iraq brought them closer together, Rachel Lee said. "He learned a lot about how much family meant to him over there," she said. She said when she first heard about the deployment, she cried and fell to the floor. "It hurt. I almost thought it was a death sentence because you hear of all the roadside bombs," she said. As time approached for the company's return to Fort Lewis, her thoughts turned to getting the blog printed. It cost Rachel Lee about $4,200 to have the document printed and bound with a plastic cover. She got donations from Kinkos and FedEx stores in Pierce County's Lakewood area. Some of the troops' family members and firefighters at her station also donated money. She still has to raise about $600 to pay off what she borrowed from her mother. Rachel Lee and her mother were at Fort Lewis April 19 when the troops came home, and they handed out the books. At first she was just going to compile the blog as a present for her brother. "I wanted to do something really nice," she said. "Then I thought that they all deserve something really nice. They all deserve a hero's welcome." Read the blog at www.pocatelloshops.com/blogs/1016th.php You can post your comments on the blog site. To offer assistance, e-mail Rachel Lee at wsutggr@hotmail.com. Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.

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