AYUMI NAKANISHI ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM After a 31 1/2-hour flight, approximately 100 soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division returned yesterday from six months in Bosnia on a peacekeeping mission.

Schofield soldiers
back after mission
in Bosnia

Aviation unit troops return
to praise for their efforts at peace
and fighting terrorism

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com

Minutes after touching down at Hickam Air Force Base, Army Pfc. Brian Castro was on the pay phone calling home to report to his folks in California after spending nearly eight months in Bosnia as an American peacekeeper.

"That was my mom," said Castro, 21, who had just completed his first Army overseas deployment as a member of the 25th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment.

"I just wanted to tell her I made it home safely," said Castro, commenting on his more than 30-hour flight, with several refueling stops, from Bosnia. "She always worries when I fly."

It was also the 25th Division's first European deployment since it was formed more than six decades ago.

More than 100 soldiers, members of Schofield's aviation section, returned yesterday after serving in the 11th Bosnia peacekeeping rotation.

The first contingent returned home Aug. 16, and the final hauling down of the unit's colors will take place early next month as the Tropic Lightning soldiers hand off the assignment to the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's 28th Infantry Division.

More than 1,000 Tropic Lightning soldiers from Schofield Barracks took part in the peacekeeping operations as members of Stabilization Force 11, which grew out of the 1996 Dayton Peace Accords. The 25th Division provided the headquarters element and the largest contingent in SFOR 11, which was made up of more than 2,000 troops.

Brig. Gen. Charles Jacoby, assistant division commander, had to introduce himself to his soldiers since he joined Schofield Barracks' staff after the bulk of the Bosnia peacekeepers left in April.

Jacoby said the Tropic Lightning soldiers in Bosnia added to the war on terrorism by helping to maintain the peace in an area long torn by civil strife.

"You made it tough for the terrorists," Jacoby said. "You made it more dangerous for them. You protected the peace."

Jacoby then pinned an Army Achievement medal on the chest of Staff Sgt. Trenton Canterbury, 30, for his work as a battle noncommissioned officer.

Canterbury, a 10-year Army veteran, said he was struck by the devastation in the country. "There were so many buildings that have been blown up."

The only major incident reported by the Hawaii soldiers occurred June 4 when two pilots were injured when their OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter hit a utility line and crashed.