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PTC soldier thankful for support from residents during break from Iraq war

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@thecitizennews.com

Les Thornton, a 1997 McIntosh High School graduate stationed in Iraq for the war on terrorism, has been overwhelmed with support during his visit here.

When his mother was unable to secure a golf cart for him to ride in the parade, he was invited to ride alongside Mayor Steve Brown. In restaurants, people have bought him drinks and patted him on the back for the job he’s doing.

“That means a lot to me, it truly does,” said Thornton, who is stationed at Fort Operating Base Speicher, just west of Tikrit. He was skeptical about how U.S. citizens would receive him, particularly in light of media accounts of the imprisoned combatants who were abused by several U.S. soldiers. “I’m going to remember that when I go back out there.”

Thornton is in flight operations for the AH-64 Apache Helicopters, tracking flights much like an air traffic controller and helping coordinate support for air strikes when necessary.

Duty has put Thornton in the line of fire “numerous times,” with his unit being shot at by Iraqi resistors, but he can’t go into details because of the classified nature of the operations, he said. Thornton also noted his unit “travels a lot.”

Thornton said he has also been surprised how he has been well-received by Iraqi citizens.

“I’ve gotten a lot of hugs,” Thornton said.

He recalled sharing Gatorade with Iraqi citizens who have never been exposed to the sports drink. “The expressions on their faces were unbelieveable. They called it ‘water with fruit.’”

Thornton and his wife, the former Stacy Gohsmon (a Sandy Creek High School graduate), have a son, Les Jr. Thornton found out on Father’s Day that he was granted a short leave home.

“It was probably the best Father’s Day present I’ll ever get,” Thornton said. He has to return to Iraq Monday; he hopes to return home in the spring, but much depends on how the situation in Iraq develops.

Coming back to the U.S. was an adventure, as Thornton had to hop a Black Hawk helicopter, drive in a convoy and catch a flight on a C-130 cargo plane just to get to Kuwait. He then flew to a base in Frankfurt, Germany where the weather was just 50 degrees, compared to the 110-degree temperatures he was used to in Iraq.

“I thought I had hypothermia,” Thornton said, recalling that others there were in short sleeves while he was shivering.

Communicating with family while in Iraq has been made easier by Internet cafes available to troops for e-mail and, of course, access to phones for calls home, Thornton said.

“I know if I didn’t (call home), my mom would probably be over there,” Thornton said of his mother, Susa Ensell, who still lives in Peachtree City. “I had a really busy month one time and only got to call once or twice, and boy, did I hear it.”