Troops, families give mixed view of Hussein’s end

It’s been three Decembers since Saddam Hussein’s capture gave soldiers and their families brief hope that the grinding war in Iraq might soon end.

Those dreams have been tempered by time, but some military families held out hope that Hussein’s execution could help the U.S. win the war. And if peace is not imminent, some said, then perhaps Hussein’s demise will at least provide some peace of mind.

“I want this evil man off the face of this earth,” said Nancy Hollinsaid, of Malden, Ill., whose son, Army Staff Sgt. Lincoln Hollinsaid, was killed in a grenade attack. “I want peace to come sooner.”

But Hollinsaid, who has followed Hussein’s trial, has a more personal wish – that the execution will “do some good for my heart.”

In the battle for Iraq, perhaps no victory was as satisfying as the capture of the man the military called High Value Target No. 1. When troops cornered the former dictator – holed up beneath a farmer’s courtyard outside Tikrit on Dec. 13, 2003 – it seemed clear evidence of significant progress.

On Friday, soldiers and their loved ones offered mixed assessments of what the former dictator’s death will mean.

Capt. Hiram Lewis, who served with the West Virginia National Guard’s 111th Engineer Group in Iraq, said it’s important that Hussein’s sentence came from an Iraqi court, rather than the U.S.

“This wasn’t American justice. This was the Iraqi people,” he said. “It’s a culmination of a long, drawn-out battle that unfortunately has cost a lot of American lives.”

Other veterans of the war also expressed satisfaction.

“It is what we are over there for – helping to support and stabilize. It is a very big step and an example of the successes,” said Brian Schiller, a Marine gunnery sergeant from Chicago who returned in October from a second seven-month tour in Iraq.

But Schiller, who also served six months in the Persian Gulf War, said Hussein’s death would not necessarily bring the war closer to an end. Instead, he hopes that the execution would “bring closure and be a symbolic gesture that unites different factions.”

Bringing Hussein to justice showed that the U.S. is making progress in Iraq – a message that should be evident to Iraqis, said Army Capt. Mike Shank, stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C.

“There’s a great sense of liberation for the Iraqi people as well in this. It’s a strong signal being sent to the people of Iraq” that they are now free,” said Shank, of Welcome, Md.

Does that mean the U.S. is nearing the end of its mission?

“To me, it’s kind of a milestone for the success of the liberation of Iraq, and I believe that’s what we’re actually working for over there,” Shank said hours before the execution. But, he added, “It’ll take time to rebuild and fix what Hussein tore apart in that part of the world.”

But some families said the former dictator’s death would not quell their grief or change their skepticism about the war.

Putting Hussein to death “accomplishes nothing,” said Jane Bright of Los Angeles. Her son, Evan Ashcraft, an Army sergeant, was killed in Iraq on July 24, 2003.

“There have been threats that American servicemen and women will be targeted by the Baathists. I think it perpetuates the killing and it doesn’t bring our son back,” she said.

Her husband, Jim, scoffed at the idea that Hussein’s execution would bring the U.S. closer to accomplishing its mission. “Is this why we killed 3,000 men and women for? That to me is appalling,” he said.

But Martin Terrazas, whose son, Marine Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, was killed in Iraq in 2005, said Hussein’s death would make his loss a little easier to accept.

“It makes me feel good about it,” said Terrazas, of El Paso, Texas. “I hope a lot of families get closure to their loss.”

Another parent of a soldier killed in action, Jan Johnson of northwest Georgia, also believed Hussein’s execution was a step forward. But after a recent trip to the Kurdish region in northern Iraq with other military families, she was measured in her assessment.

“It’s going to help that country a lot,” Johnson said. “The Kurds are so worried it’s not going to happen, they are so scared he’s going to get loose.”

Still, Hussein’s death will not end the violence – at least not for the Iraqis, she said.

“For us, maybe. But for the Iraqis, no,” Johnson said. “Until they can quit their internal fighting, it’s going to go on.”