FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Schofield Barracks soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division returned from duty in Afghanistan and Iraq and marched into yesterday's ceremony at Wheeler Army Airfield. The soldiers were led by Maj. Gen. Eric Olson.

Schofield soldiers
unfurl proud colors
after success

Troops helped put Iraq and
Afghanistan on democracy's path

A red and blue battle flag was unfurled for the first time in 33 years at Schofield Barracks yesterday.

It was a welcome home gesture, not a call to arms. The flag symbolized the return of the 25th Division from war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. The last time the division deployed as a full unit to a combat zone was in 1965, when it was sent to Vietnam.

And some of the people who welcomed the soldiers home couldn't help but compare this division's experience to the one that served 33 years ago.

Despite the unfurled flag, only about half of the division's 11,000 soldiers are now home. Most are expected to return by next month, with a few serving under other units in Afghanistan through June.

Yesterday, Maj. Gen. Eric Olson and his staff of 36 flew directly from Afghanistan after turning over command of Combined Joint Task Force 76 to another general from Hawaii, Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, who heads the Southern European Task Force and paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Soldiers of Schofield Barracks' 25th Infantry Division returned from duty in Afghanistan yesterday in a ceremony at Wheeler Army Airfield. Maj. Gen. Eric Olson, division commander, left, and Command Sgt. Maj. Frank Ashe uncased the Tropic Lightning colors in the first such ceremony since the Vietnam War 33 years ago.

"We didn't have women in the Army then," Weyand, 88, told reporters after yesterday's brief homecoming ceremony. "It's a better Army now because of them. It was a draft Army. Now it's a volunteer (Army). These guys and gals are in it because they want to be here."

Weyand still wears the division's Tropic Lightning shoulder patch.

In his brief, five-minute remarks, Olson thanked the spouses and the staff and asked for a moment of silence to remember the 26 Tropic Lightning soldiers who died during the past year -- 13 each in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan "performed one of the most critical missions that the Tropic Lightning has ever conducted since the Vietnam War years," Olson said to a cheering crowd.

He said the Tropic Lightning Division is returning home following two wartime missions and after "scoring two significant victories in the global war on terrorism: presidential elections in Afghanistan in October and presidential elections in Iraq in January."

Olson later told reporters that "there was more progress made during (this) time than in any other deployment" by other units in Afghanistan.

He cited the advances made by the Afghan people, such as "electing a president, inaugurating a president, placing them on the road to have a national assembly."

The only way the Afghan people could make this progress was because of the security conditions established by his soldiers, Olson said.

But Olson acknowledged the work is far from complete. To continue winning the war in Afghanistan, pressure must be maintained on the Taliban.

"The Taliban is still there. They are an insurgent force. We are beating them. We've got to make sure we keep beating them," he said.

Olson also addressed the growing illegal drug trade in Afghanistan, saying, "we don't want to have made Afghanistan safe so it can become a narco-state. Drug problems must be addressed."

The Afghan government is addressing the drug issue, he said.

"Everything is going in the right direction. It just needs to stay going that way," he said.