U.S. troops face depression, boredom, general malaise
By NATALIE POMPILIO
Knight Ridder Newspapers

FALLUJAH, Iraq - The U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division deployed to the Persian Gulf region last September to prepare for war. Its soldiers fought their way from Kuwait into Iraq in March, losing comrades to car bombs, grenades and bullets. Its tanks were the first to roll into Baghdad in April.

That's why many 3rd ID soldiers thought that, at the very latest, they would be home for the Fourth of July, the perfect time for ticker-tape parades and cheering crowds. Instead they were sent to Fallujah a few weeks ago, a city 35 miles northwest of Baghdad in the Sunni Muslim region of Iraq where support for Saddam Hussein was strongest and anti-American feelings run deep.

The threat of attack means soldiers must stay alert and on guard. They also must cope with depression, boredom and the general malaise that comes from not knowing what the future holds.

"It's a brutal environment where you don't feel welcome or appreciated," said Spc. Raymond Bremen, 21 of the Bronx, N.Y. "It's just hostile, between the weather, the water, the food, the people. It's everything."

"We had our hopes so high, thinking we were going home in June. We'd talk about it every day, about going home, having a barbecue. Then it was, `You're going to Fallujah,'" said Pfc. Derrick Thomas, 21, of Bensalem, Pa. "It's time for 3rd ID to go home. We fought the war, we won the war and we're still here."