Local troops home from Afghanistan

James Coburn
The Edmond Sun

EDMOND June 26, 2007 11:37 pm

— A soldier returning home from war may be difficult for families to cope when a soldier’s mind remains gauged in a military mindset, said U.S. Army Sgt. Jonathan Wilson, who recently returned home from war in Afghanistan.
Being home is good but dull, said U.S. Army Spc. Tony Davis. “You’re used to a high-tempo day so you come back and lay on the couch all day. It’s taken a while to get used to I guess.”
Davis said, “We’re used to taking out our frustration or being scared with anger over there. But I can’t do it with my wife.”
Wilson, 23, and Davis, 22, were among a group of soldiers returning home in Oklahoma after serving their country. Both men are with the Alpha Company 1-180th Infantry Battalion of the 45th Infantry Division of the Oklahoma Army National Guard. Their battalion was later attached into the 41st Brigade Combat Team out of Oregon.
Their deployment mission was securing an embedded training team for the Afghanistan National Army. Davis was with a mortar team and Wilson was with Delta Company performing mounted operations with Humvees.
The men were friends before joining the Guard. A graduate of Edmond Memorial, Davis is the son of Don and Rebecca Davis of Edmond.
He is married to Kari Davis. Wilson graduated from Edmond Santa Fe High School in 2002 and is the son of Dan and Beth Wilson.
“Sometimes we would say ‘Good night’ or ‘I love you’ over the phone,” Beth Wilson said. “But just to say it in person — it’s nice to say it and know he’s safe.”
Davis has enrolled at the University of Central Oklahoma, while Wilson has re-enlisted for three years. Wilson will transfer to the Florida National Guard, he said.
“This was my second deployment over there,” Wilson said of Afghanistan. “There is a lot of heat stirring up. There’s a lot of stuff stirring up over there, however, I have to say that the larger cities — there is a lot of economic growth. Businesses are booming.”
Davis’ experience was different. “I was in the dirt-poor areas and people still don’t like us,” he said.
Wilson said there is a lot of insurgency coming into Afghanistan from Pakistan. So some people are scared what will happen to them if they help the United States, he added.
Both men had a few close encounters with death. “You just have to have a mindset for it,” Davis said. “When we first got there we would take rockets or mortars. You kind of get in the mindset of ‘This is for real. We could die at any second.’”
You deal with it, Wilson said of war.
Wilson learned that soldiers returning from Iraq recently had a big welcoming home ceremony in Del City, he said.
“I think it’s good the public did that for them, and they need to do that for them.” Wilson said.
His mother wishes all the soldiers that her son returned with could have had a big public welcome. But they were divided into four groups and her son was greeted at the airport.
“I just think they need a big welcome and a big thank you,” she said.
(Features Editor James Coburn may be reached via e-mail at jcoburn@edmondsun.com.)

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