Iraq

Thud of war heard in echoes at home

Carla Wiedler was planning to study for midterm college exams in human biology and applied ethics on Wednesday night, but her concentration was interrupted by a new chapter in American history.

For Wiedler, 20, a student at Pasco-Hernando Community College, all thoughts immediately turned to her husband, Adam, a Marine private first class, after she heard on television that the war in Iraq had begun. Adam is stationed at an undisclosed location overseas.

"It's more of an emotion than words," she said, when asked to summarize her feelings. "I knew this was going to happen. I always knew this was definitely going to happen. It's just reality, kicking it in double-time. "It's a little scary, but you know, it's his job," said Wiedler, a Hernando County resident.

Other local military families expressed a similar mixture of anticipation and confidence. Sally Chesnes of St. Petersburg has felt the anticipation for five weeks, because that's how long her daughter Colleen, a sergeant in the Army Reserve's 32nd Transportation Group, has been stationed in Fort Stewart, Ga. Her daughter's unit had been told to expect to ship out today to an undisclosed location, but ended up staying put, Sally Chesnes said. The uncertainty bothered her, but she had hopes her daughter's services might not be needed in the Middle East after all.

"I just hope that she'll be safe wherever she's going," Chesnes said.

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