Minnesota State University Reporter

Issue date: 2/15/07 Section: National and World News

Media Credit: Brian D. Johnson Minnesota State student Sarah Kuebler hasn't seen her dad in nearly 18 months and she's tired of waiting.

When Sarah Kuebler graduates from Minnesota State in May her father won't be home to celebrate with her as planned.

Kuebler, a mass communications major, said she hasn't seen her father, Sgt. Gary Kuebler of the Minnesota National Guard, since he left for his second stint in Iraq nearly 18 months ago. She said he was scheduled to return home to Sleepy Eye, Minn., in March, but found out three weeks ago he would be staying in Iraq until August or September or possibly longer.

"It's ridiculous," Kuebler said. "My dad says it's pointless for the troops to be over there now because they don't really do anything helpful anymore. He's pissed, but he's the type of guy who wants to stay until the job is done."

Kuebler said her father seems discouraged because he doesn't know exactly what the job is and those in command rarely answer his questions. Several of his fellow Minnesota First Brigade Combat Team soldiers didn't know they would be in Iraq longer than expected until they were told by family members who heard it through the media, she said.

"I support the troops 100 percent and they shouldn't be risking their lives every day for a stupid war," Kuebler said. "They should at least be given answers about what's going on."

Sgt. Kuebler will have his tour of duty extended to accommodate President Bush's war plan to raise troop levels by 21,500 in Iraq. Already more than 3,000 American soldiers have died since the U.S.-led invasion nearly four years ago. 

"My dad is always on my mind," Kuebler said. "When I watch TV and hear that someone died [in Iraq], I wonder if I'm going to get that call. It's stressful and now I have to worry even longer."

Even though she usually gets an e-mail from her father every two to three weeks, Kuebler said, she has also gone months at a time without hearing from him. She said he has avoided serious injury but has seen soldiers hit with shrapnel from improvised explosive devices. His bunker in Camp Scania near Baghdad, she said, is also mortared on a regular basis.

As she looks at her yellow "Support the Troops" wristband, Sarah said she used to think displaying supportive slogans was enough - but not anymore.

"It's easy for people without family (in Iraq) to put the war on the back burner or see it only in financial terms," Kuebler said. "I want people to know what's happening with the troops so something is done about bringing them home."

Although the Army is meeting enlistment goals, Col. Thomas Cooper, a professor of military science at MSU, said National Guard troops are needed to share the load in Iraq. He said he feels for the families of troops who have to stay, but the best chance for the U.S. to win the war is to support the chain of command and do what our leaders say.

Kuebler is skeptical whether more troops could make any difference in Iraq and said the war has turned people away from enlisting in the military, including herself. Kuebler said she is now more interested in politics and encourages those opposed to a troop increase to contact their representatives in Congress.

U.S. House members could vote this week in favor of a nonbinding measure critical of Bush's war proposal, but Kuebler said it isn't likely Congress would deny a troop increase and adopt a new strategy soon enough for her father to return before August.     

Kuebler said she received an e-mail from Sen. Norm Coleman Friday in response to her letter asking him to help bring Minnesota National Guard troops home on schedule. Coleman said he wrote Secretary of Defense Robert Gates a letter voicing his frustration with the extension and lack of official notification for the MFBCT troops and their families. But Coleman did not say he would vote against a troop increase.

During the week of March 18-24, when her father was supposed to return home from Iraq, Kuebler said she is also planning a rally on the MSU mall to oppose a troop increase.  

Although Kuebler said she doesn't really talk to her family about the war, she uses her passion for music (which she said she got from her father) as a way to cope. Growing up, Kuebler said she connected with her father through '80s rock music. Before he left for Iraq, she gave him an iPod full of songs they used to listen to together, including Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine," a favorite of theirs. Kuebler said she also comes up with songs on her electric guitars and writes poetry she may someday put to music.

"I pray he will be one of God's soldiers who returns home to me," Kuebler said while reading "God Made Soldiers," a poem she wrote about her father. "Because my soldier is not only a soldier, he's my daddy."

Brian D. Johnson is a Reporter staff writer

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