Embattled Division Sends First Soldiers Home

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- A "torch party" from the 101st Airborne Division has arrived to prepare Fort Campbell for the mass return of the rest of the division after a year-long tour in Iraq.

The 50 soldiers are the first to return from the division, which has recently been the subject of allegations of crimes against Iraqis.

Parts of the division will arrive within the next few weeks, and most of the division's 20,000 soldiers are expected to be home by September, public affairs officer Kelly Tyler said Saturday.

Family and friends waited Saturday for the returning soldiers inside a hangar at the base. There seemed to be no talk among them of recent charges against several division members.

Three 101st soldiers were charged in June with the murder of three detainees in Iraq in May, and five soldiers whose unit was based with the 101st have been charged with raping an Iraqi girl and murdering her and three of her relatives. [Related story, Page A14.]

Capt. Mark Weinschreider said there was not a shred of shame or disappointment in his unit.

The allegations "don't affect me," he told the Tennessean newspaper. "All the good we're doing over there outweighs any bad stuff that happens."

Staff Sgt. Adam Carabello, returning from his third deployment, said the allegations are not on his mind.

"It doesn't affect me at all," he said. "Seeing all the people cheering when we came in made me a little more proud. I feel proud to be a soldier."