Yellow Ribbon Program to ease soldiers’ return

After the band is done playing "Stars and Stripes Forever,” the hugs and kisses have all been given and the excitement of a soldier’s return from a war zone has calmed, warriors face the reality of a life that is far different from Iraq or Afghanistan.

About 2,600 soldiers from the Oklahoma National Guard’s 45th Infantry Brigade returned last month from a one-year deployment to Iraq.

As they try to readjust to life at home, the Guard is offering a program officials hope will ease the transition.

It’s called the Oklahoma Yellow Ribbon Project. Funded by the federal government, the program offers soldiers and their families a multitude of resources and information about what to expect when they get back.

Maj. Deidre Musgrave, who leads the program, said many soldiers are so anxious to get home, they believe all their problems will melt away and they will immediately slide back into their prewar lives

"In fact, everything has changed,” Musgrave said. "You don’t go to an environment where you are running off adrenaline 24/7 and then just go back to your everyday routine. It’s not that easy.”

Maj. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III, the state’s adjutant general, said the Guard has had to adjust in the past six years from being a mostly reserve force to a force that routinely sends its soldiers to combat overseas.

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