13,000 Guard Troops Prepare for Iraq

Sergeant First Class (SFC) Earl Smith photographed outside the Pawhuska Armory in Pawhuska, Okla., Monday March 19, 2007. About 3,500 Army National Guard soldiers in four states, including Oklahoma, have been chosen for possible deployment to Iraq next year. Pawhuska is among dozens of Oklahoma towns where units of the 45th Infantry Brigade are located. (AP Photo/Brandi Simons) (Brandi Simons - AP)

This time next year, they could be in a desert half a world away from their home towns, behind the wheel of an armored vehicle or manning a .50-caliber machine gun.

Staff Sgt. Andrew Armstrong, a 36-year-old iron worker who's been in the guard about 16 years, said the not knowing has everybody on edge. But leaving his family and his job for at least a year is part of his duty. "Somebody's gotta do it," he says.

Capt. Chris Rogers, of Cary, N.C., served in Iraq with the 30th Brigade Combat Team in 2004. He says he hasn't given much thought to the possibility of returning.

"I don't really think about it," Rogers said. "I know it's part of the job. If we're called to go back, we'll go back."

Many folks in Pawhuska, as in many small towns, support the troops. But some find themselves questioning the mission and why more of their employees, Little League coaches and leaders are going over there.

"Seems like all we've done is spend a bunch of money and got a bunch of people hurt," said Pawhuska resident Jerry Slinkard.

Leaning on the tailgate of a pickup, Slinkard shoots the breeze with two buddies outside The Greek's, a popular cafe on the main drag of this town.

Between dips of chewing tobacco, they use the word "Vietnam" to describe what's happening over there.

War always takes its toll on a small town, said Bristow native Louis Harding, a veteran of World War II and Korea.

He remembers the major troop deployments in both wars that turned thriving Oklahoma communities into ghost towns seemingly overnight. He knows the same thing could happen again.

"We accepted it, of course," recalls Harding, 81. "We really didn't know what we were getting into."

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Associated Press writers Estes Thompson in N.C., Tom Murphy in Indianapolis and Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Ark., contributed to this report.