Iraq vet has full
supply of grit
Traci St. Denis coordinated materials distribution and stuck
around for two years after tour was up
By DENNIS YUSKO,
Staff writer
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First
published: Monday, November 19, 2007
In 2004, the Army Reserve captain left her
executive assistant job at the hotel and conference center to volunteer for
overseas duty as a supply route coordinator. Now, three years later, she has
returned home to Latham to replace her bullet-proof vest with an apron.
But like many returning servicemen and
women, St. Denis is going through a readjustment period at home. The soldier,
private contractor and wartime blogger isn't struggling, but three years in
Iraq has certainly changed her. She says the heady experiences were so moving
that she sometimes finds it difficult to relate to the person she was prior to
deployment.
"I am less 'everything is peaches and
cream,' " St. Denis said recently while making a chicken dinner in her
Route 9 home. "And I have greater appreciation for the little
things."
Working in Iraq taught her to slow down
and appreciate "what so many Americans take for granted: leaves, grass,
home-cooked meals," St. Denis said. The 37-year-old is learning to live
without nervous energy and responsibility, and says she has far less patience
for whining.
Hearing a friend complain that a store
didn't have a specific color of Ralph Lauren home paint grated on her.
The Desmond was a wonderful place to work,
but returning to the job would be impossible because St. Denis feels she would
have no tolerance for "complaints about pillows not being fluffy
enough."
A lot of her returning colleagues also
feel a bit misplaced, she said.
"We basically are kind of an island
of misfits. There's nothing that's going to be as emotionally fulfilling as
rebuilding a country," St. Denis said.
Her feelings are common among returning
vets because the Iraq conflict has not engendered a sense of shared sacrifice
in the United States, said attorney Greg Rinckey, who represents soldiers and
Marines.
"Part of the problem is the U.S. is
not really a country at war," Rinckey said. "This isn't like World
War II when you had everyone rationing. It's definitely something I see."
Most vets have a totally different outlook
on life when they return from a war zone, Rinckey said. "They see people
scrounging to just live, going through garbage to find meals and people blown
away at any moment," he said. It's hard not to be touched by that, Rinckey
said.
St. Denis was born two months prematurely
in Niskayuna in 1970. Doctors gave her a slim chance at reaching her teen
years.
Always the fighter, St. Denis survived and
graduated from SUNY Cortland. During college, she joined the Army Reserves in
Syracuse. She had always wanted to be a soldier, or a firefighter like her dad,
Bob Stewart.
St. Denis has red hair, green eyes and
likes to tell jokes. Several years ago, she, her father and brother all had the
Scottish Lion Rampant tattooed on their arms. On the Fourth of July in 2003,
she married her husband, Scott, wearing a red, white and blue dress. All guests
were required to wear the colors of the flag.