Legion post holds welcome for Guard

Soldiers from the 1140th Engineer Battalion returned from Iraq earlier this year.

What every member of the 1140th Engineer Battalion, Company B missed while stationed in Iraq was something simple.

"I now appreciate flushable toilets," said Brandon Beasley of Jackson.

Dan Tooloose of Fredericktown, Mo., said, "It's good to be back to real showers and bathrooms, and toilets that flush."

National Guard soldiers, who returned to Southeast Missouri in early March, had a chance to talk about life at home Sunday at a dinner and get-together sponsored by American Legion Post 158 in Jackson. Dick Decker, adjutant and coordinator of the event, said the gathering was deliberately low-key. "They didn't want an elaborate ceremony," he said. "This will be fun for them."

Americanism chairman and co-coordinator Dave Ludwig agreed. "This is just a relaxing afternoon to get to know the guys and thank them for their service. Maybe they'll decide to become members."

Besides toilets, soldiers are getting reacquainted with things equally as mundane -- like traffic laws.

"You have to get used to following all of the rules again," said John Pursell of Cape Girardeau. "In Iraq, you make your own rules on the road."

Beasley said he has a tendency to stay in the left lane because "I find myself driving now with a heavy foot."

"It's difficult to adjust to driving here," he added.

The soldiers said that most of their homesickness was eased by care packages too numerous to count. When they returned home, however, they found they had to readjust to family life.

Robert Sams of Olive Branch, Ill., and his wife, Cindy, said there were some power struggles.

"She's been running the family so long and making the rules. Now we have to compromise," Robert Sams said.

"I've been used to not having him around. His return was OK for a few days, and then it's like, 'OK, you can leave again,'" his wife joked.

"The children have different interests now," Robert Sams said. "I have to learn how to relate to them."

Michael Goodsell of Waterloo, Ill., was surprised at how much his sons had grown when he returned.

"My wife, Lisa, kept a growth chart for them while I was gone," he said. "They both grew about 3 inches. My youngest son is speaking more clearly."

He said that the children were trying to get used to having a father figure again. "We've had some of the 'Mom let us do it, why don't you?' sorts of issues," he said. "They're learning to adjust too. Dad's past the 'I'm home, I'm a nice guy' routine."

Other children are simply getting used to having a father.

Jeffery Buchheit's 11-month-old daughter Maura was born while he was deployed.

"I didn't come back to the life I lived before," he said. "I'm learning to deal with it. I don't take anything for granted anymore."

nstanfield@semissourian.com

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