FORT LEWIS – Grace Collazo huddled in the rain under a large red and white umbrella, scanning an airfield where thousands of soldiers with the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division stood for a deployment ceremony Friday.
“Daddy’s coming, Mommy. Daddy’s coming,” the 4-year-old said, unable to identify her father, Sgt. Edwin Collazo, among the brigade’s seven battalions, which soon will leave for their second tour in Iraq.
“See the yellow flag over there, baby, see the yellow flag?” Julie Collazo said, directing her daughter to the right. “That’s where Daddy is.”
Sgt. Collazo, a cavalry scout, was among the roughly 3,900 soldiers with the Army’s first Stryker Brigade Combat Team who will begin leaving for Mosul in northern Iraq later this month.
The brigade’s gear, including the eight-wheeled armored vehicles for which it is named, was loaded onto a cargo ship this week at the Port of Olympia and shipped to Iraq ahead of soldiers.
The shipment drew days of protests from demonstrators opposing the war.
During Friday morning’s ceremony at the post’s Gray Army Airfield, thousands of family and friends turned out for the casing of flags, signifying the brigade had finished training at this post south of Tacoma.
The crowd heard from 3rd Brigade commander Col. Stephen Townsend, who touted the soldiers’ readiness.
“I see a Stryker brigade that’s an aggressive team,” said Townsend, who took command after the brigade returned in late 2004. “A family of skilled, tough, alert and adaptable warriors … but who also treat the Iraqi people with dignity and respect.”
During the past 19 months, the 3rd Brigade has been training to replace the 172nd Stryker Brigade of Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Training included simulations of roadside bombs and ambushes, hidden weapons caches and kidnappings by insurgents.
“Less than 1 percent of the nation is carrying 100 percent of the burden of this war,” Fort Lewis commander Lt. Gen. James Dubik said, his voice wavering as he spoke of the roughly 2.3 million people in the military.
“God bless you all. Good luck to each and every one of you,” he said.
The brigade returned home in October 2004 from its first yearlong deployment in Iraq, where it conducted combat missions in several cities, including Samarra, Tal Afar and Mosul. During the mission, 19 soldiers with the brigade died.
About half of the soldiers on hand Friday had previously served in Iraq, said Maj. Rob Parke, a spokesman for the brigade.
Sgt. Joseph Sloop said he feels better prepared for the stress of war this time. It will be his second separation from his wife of a year, Brandi, who was in college in Wilmington, N.C., during his last deployment.
While she, too, dreads being apart, Brandi Sloop said it’s the unknown that upsets her most.
“Whether or not I’m going to talk to him again,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes as her husband grabbed her hand and pulled her close. “Getting that phone call.”
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