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February 16, 2010

Iraq veteran says support, encouragement vital to troops

By Melanie Patterson The North Jefferson News

WARRIOR — Spc. Blake McAlpine has one message for his community: Support your troops.

He speaks from experience.

McAlpine, 26, of Warrior, and his best friend Spc. Kevin Perry, 20, of Anniston, recently arrived home from a 10-month tour of duty in Iraq.

The young veterans were in the Middle East from March to December of last year working as military police.

Their U.S. Army Reserve unit, the 450th MP Co. of Birmingham, was attached to the 810th MP Co. of Tampa, Fla.

McAlpine and Perry were a two-man team during the mission, with Perry as driver and McAlpine as gunner.

“We’re pretty much brothers now,” McAlpine said.

During the first half of their tour, the two worked in Baghdad training civilian Iraqi Police (IP). They also worked on personal security details, protecting high-ranking officials traveling throughout Baghdad.

After that, McAlpine and Perry worked Camp Bucca in Umm Qasr, Iraq, where they trained police officers at local police stations and an internment camp.

Both men said their tour in Iraq, which was their first, changed everything about their lives.

“I was fresh out of high school,” Perry said. “As soon as I got boots on the ground I grew up real fast.”

Perry said since his return he has wanted to spend as much time as possible with his parents, Tommy and Deborah Perry, unlike before the deployment.

He also said it was “weird” at first spending time with his friends after getting home.

“It was hard coming back and trying to fit in,” he said. “I’m like the adult in the group now. I’m a lot more responsible.”

McAlpine said about his friend that the tour “made a man out of him.”

But McAlpine changed too.

“I appreciate things in life more, like throwing a baseball with my son or going fishing with my dad. Things that don’t seem like a big deal until you can’t do them on a daily basis,” he said.

McAlpine is the son of JD and Diane McAlpine of Warrior. His son is Braxton, age 7.

McAlpine experienced some of the same difficulties as Perry upon his return home.

“It’s almost like everybody else’s life went on and ours didn’t,” he said. “It’s like your life was on hold for a year and you’re starting over.”

McAlpine said his time in Iraq made him a more spiritual person.

“You look at things differently,” he said. He also found it significant that he was near many places mentioned in the Bible.

Perry also had a revelation about religion - that of others.

“I was exposed to a new religion,” Perry said of the Muslim faith. “All I knew about it was what I had seen on TV. I learned to have respect for them. The way they feel about their religion is the same way we feel about ours.”

While they are readjusting to civilian life, the two are also preparing for another possible deployment. McAlpine said their unit, the 450th, could possibly be sent to Afghanistan in upcoming months.

In the meantime, the men are settling back into civilian life and remembering their military brothers and sisters who are still overseas.

They encourage friends, family members and even strangers to send cards and care packages to deployed troops.

Perry said his name was somehow placed on a mailing list in Wisconsin. He received Christmas cards from there as well as from various schools.

“It’s not necessarily the contents of the care package,” McAlpine said. “It’s just knowing someone at home was thinking about you.”

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