Reservists reflect on anxious call to duty

After 22 years of military service that began in Vietnam, Sergeant Gingrich could have avoided the call-up by retiring. Instead, in true patriotic fashion, he wanted to do what he could to make a difference. "I see those mass graves on television," says Gingrich, a truck driver, of Saddam Hussein's tyrannical rule. "If I can be a little part of making sure it doesn't happen again, I want to be there."

Today, the soldiers wear forest-green fatigues rather than desert camouflage. That doesn't surprise veterans in the unit who served in Desert Storm: They didn't get the desert fatigues last time until after the war had ended.

During their four months in Kuwait and Iraq, they transported everything from ammunition to Iraqi prisoners of war. The mission will be much the same this time around, though there is more uncertainty. "At least during Desert Storm, they were in the middle of war. Now it's ambushes and sniper attacks to watch for," says Vicki Pearson, whose husband Wayne is a specialist in the unit.

On Dec. 7, the guard members will head for Fort Drum in New York for several weeks of training before flying overseas sometime in February. For now, the soldiers are trying to spend as much time as they can with family and friends. Some are teaching their oldest kids how to use snow blowers. Others are celebrating Christmas early.

Despite the intrusion of dangerous duty, Brig. Gen. John Weeden, the No. 2 ranking officer in the New Hampshire National Guard, says morale is "extremely high." Yet an uneasiness still gnaws at the soldiers. As a self-employed contractor, Specialist David Serrentino fears he won't have any work when he gets back. He worries about how his wife will care for their nine-month-old daughter and who will tend their 15-acre farm in Goshen, with its two cows, six pigs, and three dozen chickens.

Mr. Serrentino signed up with the National Guard last year thinking he'd be doing homeland security work. After six years as an active duty Marine Corps sniper, he says he'd spent enough time overseas. He didn't realize his truck-driving assignment could land him in a combat zone. "Bullets and RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] do not discriminate," says Serrentino.

After the paper work is done, they march outside onto a muddy field and stand in formation. Capt. Mary Bergner pins insignias on newly promoted soldiers. "We're going to give 100 percent, and we're going to bring 100 percent back," she says. After dismissing the troops, she stops to reassure one other constituency. "We'll bring 'em back," she says to the soldiers' families. "We will."

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