March 21. 2004 - War with Iraq: One Year Later - Personal battles await some soldiers returning from Iraq - It started like a scene from a movie: A planeload of Indiana Army National Guard soldiers returned from Iraq to Indianapolis, where soldiers were greeted by a throng of family and friends. Marnie Bennington, of Fishers, searched for her husband, Sgt. Jay Bennington, whom she hadn't seen for a year.  They found themselves standing next to each other in the crowd. But then the movie plot shifted.  Both had lost enough weight that they weren't sure they recognized each other.  "We just looked at each other for a minute," Jay Bennington, 34, said. "I went, Marnie? And she went, Jay?"  Physical appearances are the least of the changes the more than 1,000 Indiana Guard soldiers and their families have faced since returning from the war in Iraq.  Some soldiers came home to children who were too young when they left to remember them. Others have had to tend to businesses they owned but left short-handed while in Iraq. All have had to forgo adrenaline-packed moments as they pick up their lives and find ways to focus on the mundane again.  "Their mind-set has been focused at 110 percent survival, mission and the enemy," said Lt. Col. Jim Cotter, who works with a unit at Camp Atterbury that helps soldiers with the transition. "So now, who cares whether or not the trash gets taken out today or tomorrow?"  The Guard starts preparing soldiers for their return before they leave the war zone.  In Iraq, they are required to fill out a medical questionnaire that, among other things, asks them about their emotions, what they saw and experienced and whether they had to fire their weapons at the enemy. "That helps us to make an evaluation as to where they've adjusted and where they haven't," Cotter said.  Once they return to Indiana, the soldiers get a couple of days with their families. Then they head to Camp Atterbury for a week, where they undergo debriefing that includes a seven- to eight-hour session on what to expect back home.  They're cautioned that life has gone on and their families have changed. Their young children may not recognize them. If they have a teenager who stepped in as the man of the house, a power struggle might await them.  The session is a marked change from how returning soldiers were treated in the past, Cotter said.  During Vietnam, soldiers flew back individually and weren't offered much assistance. When soldiers came back to Fort Bragg, N.C., in 2002 after fighting in Afghanistan, four Army wives were killed during a six-week period.  An Army study into the deaths noted that the stress of long deployments contributes to a number of marital problems.  "That really put an emphasis on the military system to evaluate the demobilization procedure," Cotter said. 
Family transition - During his post-Iraq week at Camp Atterbury, Capt. Wes Russell, 38, Muncie, was primarily worried about his 7-year-old daughter, Rachel.  "I was not sure how my daughter was going to react," said Russell, who returned with soldiers from the 293rd Infantry in October.  He was told to expect her to be happy but "very clingy." And she was. When Russell returned, his daughter didn't let him out of her sight, his wife, Patty, 37, said. "She was right there on his heels."  Patty Russell acknowledged that the time apart was difficult. She saw her husband three times on the national news thanks to a news correspondent from CBS who was embedded with Russell's unit. She tried to keep her daughter abreast of war developments but wouldn't let her watch too much of the coverage.  "I couldn't lie to her and say, 'Oh, it's not a problem,' " she said of the danger Russell faced.  She said the postwar adjustment has been easier.  She is particularly proud of refinancing the family home while her husband was gone but acknowledged, "I was ready to have a helper back."  Russell, who works full time at his unit's armory in Fort Wayne, is still trying to put his daily duties into perspective. "Almost everything we do seems insignificant to what we have just done," Russell said.  "Things can never be the same," said Russell, who also fought in Desert Storm. "I appreciate what we have here in America. I can't take things for granted like I probably did before."

Getting reacquainted - When Jay Bennington left for Iraq with the 152nd Infantry, his younger son, Noah, was barely a month old.  The first weeks were particularly hard for Bennington and his wife. "I cried a lot in the beginning, and then I told myself I'd better buck up and quit crying because life goes on," said Marnie, 34.  The two had worked different hours, so one of them always could be with the children. Jay Bennington said he felt guilty leaving her as the sole caregiver. "I knew I had to go, but I felt bad because I felt in a way I had abandoned her."  His wife didn't let herself get excited about his return until she was on her way to the airport from their Fishers home.  "I was excited. I was nervous. I was glad and happy." And she acknowledged, "I was scared."  She's grateful for the week her husband spent at Camp Atterbury after returning to Indiana.  "For the first three days he was home, he was really nervous. He would sit on the edge of his seat," she said.  Bennington has spent the past month getting reacquainted with Noah, now 1, and his older son, Sam, 3.  Though he's returned to work as a warehouse forklift operator, he's still learning the drill at home: what the boys like to eat, where the pots and pans are kept, whose shirt is whose when he puts the laundry away.  "We're still trying to get used to each other," his wife said.

Appreciating life - Spc. Jason McGaha, 22, who returned with the 152nd Infantry last month, also is readjusting to family life.  His younger daughter, Straton, was 2 weeks old when his unit shipped out. Now she's 1.  "It was unreal. I missed everything -- her first steps, her first words," he said.  His wife, Amber, 21, called the separation "horrible." No one anticipated the unit would be gone for a year, she said.  A friend stayed with her to help with Straton and her older sister, Sydney, who is nearly 3. The couple tried to keep in touch by telephone, resulting in monthly phone bills of more than $300.  Life back at home was strange at first, McGaha said. "I slept next to the same guys for a year. Every minute of every day I saw the same faces," he said.  He realizes now how much he enjoys things he took for granted before -- whether it's going to the grocery store or spending time in a park with his children.  "I like my life right now a lot better than I did."  (By Rob Schneider, IndyStar.com)

March 31, 2004 - Ohio guardsman discharged from Army for refusing anthrax vaccine - COLUMBUS (AP) -- An Ohio National Guardsman from Granville has been discharged from the Army for refusing another order to be vaccinated against anthrax, this time while in Kuwait.  Spc. Kurt Hickman, 20, arrived in Kuwait on Feb. 11. He was ordered to take the vaccine two days later.  When he refused, he was escorted back to Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh, Ind., on Feb. 25. He stayed there until he was discharged on Sunday, Guard spokesman James Sims said.  Troops going to high-risk areas for more than 15 days have been required to be vaccinated since 1999 to protect them against biological weapons.  Hickman's attorney, Kenneth Levine, said Hickman always wanted to serve his country, but didn't want to expose himself to what he considers to be a dangerous vaccine. 

Hickman's discharge notes that he received four medals during his service.  Sims said the Army gave Hickman an honorable discharge and demoted him from specialist to private. He likely will receive a similar discharge from the National Guard, Sims said.  Hickman, a sophomore journalism major at Ohio University, will have to repay the money the Guard paid for his tuition along with any bonuses he received for meritorious work.  Sims said privacy policies prohibit the disclosure of how much Hickman earned and how much he will have to repay.  Hickman joined the Guard in 2001. He was first charged in November with disobeying an order for not being vaccinated with his unit, the 196th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. 

He was court-martialed in December. A military judge recommended a sentence of 40 days in jail and a bad-conduct discharge.  Hickman's Ohio penalty was put on hold after U.S. District Judge Emmit Sullivan ruled that the military could not force troops to take shots against their will without an order of the president. The ban was lifted after the FDA said the vaccine was safe and effective for use against inhaled anthrax. 

At Camp Atterbury, Hickman, then under the jurisdiction of the regular Army, again refused to take the vaccine and was charged with disobeying an order.  That charge was dropped when Lt. Gen. Joseph Inge decided to allow Hickman to be deployed.  In 1999, five Ohio Air National Guard members based in Cincinnati were discharged for refusing the vaccinations.