Iraq

GETTYSBURG, Pa. -- They were tired. They had not seen their loved ones in as long as a year. They wanted to wear something other than camouflage. They wanted to go home. But the men of the Pennsylvania National Guard's Battery B, 108th Field Artillery of the 56th Stryker Brigade had to line up in formation one more time Saturday after they stepped off the bus at the Gettysburg armory. "Let's get this over with," said Sgt. 1st Class Oscar Laughman of Hanover, Pa. "I don't know about you, but I want to go home.

andrews@herald-mail.com MIDDLETOWN, MD. The bomb that exploded near Maryland National Guard Sgt. Randy Divel's vehicle in Iraq on Christmas Eve burned about 40 percent of his body, mostly on his right side, his sister, Dianna Divel Mehaffie, said Saturday. Divel, a 1987 graduate of Clear Spring High School, had his first skin graft operation on Dec. 28 and is scheduled to have his second on Monday. Mehaffie said her brother - who is recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio - was at first listed in critical condition, but has greatly improved.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - With Congress in recess until after Labor Day, U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito met with local elected leaders Monday at her office in Martinsburg and toured Quad/Graphics, one of Berkeley County's largest employers. "Just checkin' in," Capito said of the appointments during lawmakers' summer district work period, which began on Aug. 6. From the Morgan County Courthouse project to the W.Va. 9 expansion, the extension of Martinsburg's Raleigh Street and Inwood's stormwater problems, Capito said she is made well aware of the region's needs.

andrear@herald-mail.com College campuses have traditionally provided stages for spirited peace movements, but the fires of protest have yet to heat up on most campuses in the Tri-State area - even as war with Iraq looms on the horizon. A small group of students at Shepherd College in Shepherdstown, W.Va., has staged the only organized protests against war in the Middle East. War discussion forums have been held at other colleges and universities in Frederick County, Md., and Franklin County, Pa., but for the most part, students there have taken no vocal stand against the Bush administration's push for war with Iraq.

andrews@herald-mail.com Now that Americans have settled back into their pop culture groove, the news we crave is: How did Annika Sorenstam fare against the men in golf? Who killed Laci Peterson? Did Ruben deserve to win "American Idol"? Post-war Iraq and the American troops stationed there sometimes become background chatter in the daily news cycle. But not for the Vaughns of Clear Spring. They're paying attention. Their son, U.S. Marines Sgt. Christopher C. Reely, 26, was deployed from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina to the Middle East on Feb. 1. Or the Mowers in Hagerstown, who have heard that their son, U.S. Army Capt.

Editors note: The Herald-Mail asked Tri-State area readers to phone in and tell us their thoughts about war with Iraq. Following are some of those responses. More responses will run in Friday's paper. Callers may express their opinions by calling 301-791-6236. "I can't believe that true Americans are sitting here even debating the situation we are in. We have no choice but to do what we are doing. If you stop and think about it, about true history, we did everything we could to take over this country, now we have it and now we have to defend it. We have to defend it without backing down.

MONT ALTO, Pa. ? Edward L. Shaffer read over a note from his grandson's comrades through tears Thursday morning as he spoke of U.S. Army Sgt. Edward W. "Eddie" Shaffer's death Wednesday at a Texas military hospital. Eddie Shaffer, 23, of Mont Alto, succumbed to his injuries Wednesday at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, where he was being treated for critical burns sustained in a Nov. 13 roadside bomb blast in Ramadi, Iraq. In a phone interview Thursday morning, Edward L. Shaffer read over a card he received from members of Eddie Shaffer's platoon still stationed in Iraq.

HAGERSTOWN - The Marines in Lance Cpl. Joey Lamp's unit will be counting on him later this month when they begin a seven-month tour of duty in Iraq. Lamp, 19, of Hagerstown said he will man a .50-caliber machine gun atop an armored personnel carrier and provide covering fire as the rest of his squad exits the vehicle. "I'm excited," Lamp said of his first deployment to a combat zone. "That's why I volunteered. " Lamp said he serves in a six-man unit aboard a Cougar, a heavily armored vehicle that was designed to absorb massive punishment.

scottb@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - A U.S. Marine from Hagerstown who was injured in Iraq on July 1 was listed in critical condition at a San Antonio hospital burn unit late Wednesday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman said. Pfc. Kenton Shatzer, 18, a rifleman and Humvee driver, was admitted to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio Tuesday morning, hospital spokeswoman Norma Guerra said. Shatzer has burns over 19 percent of his body, she said. Information about how he was injured has not been made public and his family hasn't been told, his father, Vaughn Shatzer, said.

Chris Laye, son of Jonathan and Linda Laye of Smithsburg, was recently promoted to sergeant 1st class and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for completing three years as a military police drill sergeant with Bravo Company 795th Military Police Battalion, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Laye is en route to Iraq. He is a 1988 graduate of Smithsburg High School.