AKRON Reserve unit heads home

One reservist said they got used to the possibility of dying.
AKRON (AP) -- An Army Reserve unit activated after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is due back in Akron today -- after 21 months of duty, including a tour in Iraq.
Family members say the reservists are scheduled to arrive home this evening from Fort Knox, Ky.
The men and women of the 447th Military Police Company returned from the war to an emotional reception a week ago at Fort Knox. They had been gone since February this time, arriving in Iraq in April.
Each must integrate their former lives with their newly acquired war memories.
Staff Sgt. Geoff King of Akron has had less than five months at home with his son, Noah, and his wife, Renee, since Noah was born June 12, 2002.
King, 37, a Gulf War veteran, and the 447th were serving at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., providing post security when Noah was born.
Emotional experience
When the soldiers finally arrived back at Fort Knox, King said the emotions were overwhelming.
"I never thought the time would come, and when it did, it seemed like a dream," King told the Akron Beacon Journal in an interview at Fort Knox in advance of his unit's return to Akron.
King described his time in Iraq this time as much worse than the first Gulf War. The first war was quick, he said.
"Here, it dragged on," he said.
Sgt. Aaron Williams, 24, of Kent, learned more about camels than he ever wanted to know while in Iraq. One soldier even bought a camel in Iraq for $50 but had to set it free, he said.
Despite the distractions such as camels, "You just get used to it ... that dying was a possibility," Williams said.
Plans
Williams said he plans to return to Kent and attend Kent State University when he comes home. He worked at a pet store before his unit was sent to Iraq.
His unit's first duty in Iraq was serving at Camp Bucca, a prisoner of war facility in southern Iraq named after New York City Fire Marshal Ronald Bucca, who died at the World Trade Center.
Staff Sgt. George Oberlin, 44, of Barberton, will return home jobless: His position with a health-care supply company moved to Pennsylvania while he was away.
Oberlin, who served more than 14 years active duty in the Navy, joined the Army Reserve unit in 1999 after his family moved back to the area from Norfolk, Va.
Oberlin said his time in Iraq "aged me. I got a lot grayer."
While there, he said, he not only worried about the safety of himself and his soldiers, but also worried about his family back home.