National Guard troops reunite at Williamsport Armory 20 years after peacekeeping mission to Bosnia
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For many, Memorial Day represents the unofficial start of summer and is marked with a plethora of sale commercials and picnics.
But for those who have served in the armed forces, as well as those who have lost friends and family in the line of duty, it is a day to honor and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
With that in mind, 14 members of the Williamsport National Guard gathered Saturday to catch up and reminisce on their peacekeeping mission to Eagle Base in Tuzla, Bosnia, following the war with neighboring Serbia, from September 2002 to March 2003.
The men were part of the Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 109th Infantry, 28th Infantry Division, and were known as a quick reactionary force.
"We were a special platoon that did peacekeeping missions and handled any major catastrophe that might arise," Lieutenant Colonel Chris Roth, and platoon leader of the mission explained.
"We would go out on presence patrols and interact with the local populace, just to see how life was going for them," he said.
"We would also have to be prepared to go in with helicopters or with our trucks to an emergency scenario, and then if we had to do a raid or something, we had to be prepared to defend ourselves, but that never happened, luckily," Roth said.
"There was also a lot of unexploded munitions and we didn't know where they were, so you had to stay in certain areas," Roth, a First Lieutenant at the time, explained.
"When it would rain, landmines would come loose from the soil, and tumble down into the creeks and stuff, so you had to be aware of that," he said.
In the aftermath of war, Roth said civilians would sometimes turn in weapons including rusted grenades.
"Sometimes when people would turn explosives in, they were deteriorated, and you're like, 'Oh, wow. This thing might blow up just by you handing it to me,'" he said.
"One thing that was a shame to see over there was the war-torn country," Retired Sgt. 1st Class Michael Seitzer said. "All the waterways were totally polluted, and just the tattered buildings, we're talking castles that were from the 12th century that were just totally ruined."
"In the middle of winter, you'd see kids running down the middle of their gravel road with shorts on, boots, and a t-shirt," he said.
"There was a mother and her four kids living in a house that only had three walls and no running water or anything," Sgt. 1st Class Steven Jones remembered.
"She was still raising her kids there, waiting for her husband to come home from the war, but it had been over for some time and he was gone, and we could tell her that, but she wasn't giving up waiting," he said.
The mission was a big change for the National Guard, based stateside before the attacks of September 11, 2001, who now found themselves deployed to war zones, according to Roth.
"Just a few years after Bosnia, a lot of the guys from the unit in Williamsport deployed to Iraq, so this was the first real mission for the unit before going off to war," Roth said.
The idea of a reunion was stop and go as many of the soldiers slowly found each other on Facebook, Roth said.
"Then last year, I was on a deployment in Saudi Arabia, and one of the other guys who had served with me 20 years ago deployed to Saudi Arabia, too, and I took a picture of him and posted it," Roth explained.
It was then that the group who had been communicating on messenger decided to finally put a plan into motion, with the group settling on the Saturday before Memorial Day weekend.
In the years since their mission, three members of the platoon have passed away, including SSG Ryan Ostrom, who was killed in action on Aug. 9, 2005 in Habbaniyah, Iraq.
"We all care about each other, even though I might not have seen some of these people in 20 years," Roth said.
"You want to see how they're doing and congratulate them on their successes in life and commiserate on their defeats, and step up and help them if they need something," he said.
"It's like that relationship is still, it's still there today, but that's the military in general., it's not just this group of 30 guys."
"I can't wait to see the guys. It's hard to believe it's been 21 years," Seitzer said.
"It's wonderful," said Retired Staff Sgt. William Erb, who went on to serve three tours in Iraq. "A lot of these guys I haven't seen in 20 years."
"And, it's good for the community to know some of the things that we've done as a community unit, and some of the places we've been that they might not know about," he said.
"The National Guards has a double duty of protecting the community, but then answering when the nation calls," Erb said.
"I spent five of my 26 years overseas in the National Guards, pulling active duty, sometimes in combat zones," he said.
"This is something all veterans have. It's a bond that you have with people that you don't even have with your spouse. You're with men and women that you would die for, and would die for you, regardless of your background, your religion, your politics, it's like this person means more to you than you mean to yourself," he said, adding, "you have to live it to understand it."
"A lot of veterans don't want to talk about their experiences with civilians because civilians can't comprehend what you go through and the sacrifices you make, but these men and women, they understand, so there's an emotional comfort you have with them," Roth said.
"We don't just do our time and then walk away. It's brotherhood, Erb added.
With camaraderie and love in the air, it will perhaps come as no surprise that talks are underway for the group's next gathering.