Small Town News

Winzers yellow ribbons come down

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Military personnel will tell you that it's just a job they have to do.

Focusing on the mission keeps you alert and gives you a better chance of survival.

Todd Winzer, from Grand Coulee and a Lake Roosevelt High School grad, returned recently from a year in Iraq.

He is with the 1161st Transportation Company, National Guard, out of Ephrata.

Currently he is in Pullman where he is getting ready to finish his degree at Washington State University.

Winzer was a truck driver at a military base about 30 miles out of Baghdad. His job was to deliver military supplies to other bases and forces scattered around the countryside.

The truck convoys moved at night, lessening the danger from attack. "Every five or six vehicles, there was armor to protect the convoys," Winzer stated.

"Hot," was one way Winzer described Iraq. "We stayed on base and weren't allowed to wander around," he said. "When we went off base we wore our armor and carried our rifles."

The bases were self sufficient. Want to go to the movies? Go bowling? It was all there for you to do.

"They fed us four times a day, if we wanted it," Winzer said.

Winzer says that his unit's name could come up again for deployment in a couple of years.

If there was any anxiety during his year in Iraq, it was equal parts Grand Coulee and Iraq.

His parents, David and Kathy, placed a yellow ribbon each week on the fence around their home in Grand Coulee. The property was surrounded by yellow ribbons.

When Todd got home, he took the ribbons down, ending the year-long absence and drama.

While Todd admits to bouts of homesickness, he had a lot company from home.

There were four in his unit from the Grand Coulee area.

They included Aaron Nachtigal, Brandon Huston, and Justin Caw-ston. All served in or nearby the same base as Todd.



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© 2010 The Star Grand Coulee, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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