Returning home after a year in the war-torn country of Iraq, Sgt. Brian Humphreys, a member of the Idaho National Guard's 116th Brigade Combat Team, looks up to veterans of past wars with renewed admiration and respect.
"They're my heroes," Humphreys, of Shoshone, said.
On Tuesday, Humphreys and 51 other members of the 116th Brigade Combat Team completed the final leg of a journey from Iraq to the U.S. when they arrived in Twin Falls. Humphreys and roughly 1,600 other members of the 116th have been stationed in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk since late November 2004.
After his arrival in Twin Falls, Humphreys said he ran into a veteran of an earlier war waiting at the airport.
Humphreys said he went over and thanked him for his service.
"It's those guys that are my heroes," he said.
Humphreys said the conditions during earlier wars were tougher than those of today. "They spent nights in foxholes. It was a lot harder on them."
Still, the Iraq War isn't without its risks and unpleasantries, he said.
"It was kind of hairy at times," Humphreys said.
Keeping safe requires respecting traditions, something all soldiers do, he said.
Having a roof over their heads—even if it was only that of a tent—and being able to maintain communication by phone and email with family members back home helped, he said.
"It really wasn't that bad," Humphreys said.
His modesty aside, Humphreys and his fellow soldiers have undoubtedly gained a great amount of respect from older veterans, a measure of which can be seen in the attention Humphreys has been given since his return to U.S. shores.
Tonight, Humphreys will be the featured guest at the annual Veterans' Day Dinner at the David Ketchum American Legion Hall in Ketchum. There, he will speak to gathered veterans about his experiences in Iraq.
One of those veterans who will be listening intently to Humphreys will be Edgar McGowan, of Ketchum.
A veteran of World War II, the Korean War and two tours during the Vietnam War, McGowan's perspective as a soldier was shaped over many years. He retired as a colonel in the U.S. Army after 31 years of military service.
Like so many of his generation, McGowan entered the Army in March 1942 as an enlistee.
"It was the thing to do," he said. "We all marched off."
World War II found McGowan stationed all over the world, eventually ending up in the Parachute Division of the 11th Airborne Division in the Philippines.
"I felt that we were fighting for what was right," he said.
In the years after World War II, the American public's support for returning soldiers was high, McGowan said. Soldiers were treated to numerous welcome-home and Veterans' Day parades, he said.
"It was a really big deal," McGowan said.
Since World War II, though, interest in Veterans' Day has dropped somewhat, he said.
"It's changed over the years," McGowan said.
The public's support and enthusiasm for U.S. troops has renewed, though, as soldiers from Iraq have begun to trickle back, he said.
Like McGowan, Humphreys said today's returning soldiers enjoy a level of public support not seen in many years.
"It's more about the troops," Humphreys said. "That's what I'm seeing coming home."
