03/16/06: Years of war alter mood in Baraboo

By BILL GLAUBER

 Posted: Mar. 16, 2006

 BARABOO - Chris Nielsen drove through tears that day last August. He was a

 cop and a dad, behind the wheel of a police cruiser, leading a three-bus

 convoy filled with troops from the Wisconsin Army National Guard's Company

 C, 2nd Battalion, 128th Infantry.

His son was on one of those buses. So were other kids he knew.

  They rolled from the local armory, past hundreds of yellow ribbons that he

 and his wife and dozens of volunteers had tied to trees and light poles,

 past cheering, tearful families, past workers lined up outside at Sysco

 Food Services, past the timeless courthouse square adorned with memorials

 to wars gone by, past shopkeepers and office workers, then a final loop,

 out of town, off to war.

 Now, months later, Nielsen remembers those proud, bittersweet moments and

 reflects on an Iraq war that lurches into a fourth year, a war that

 reverberates in so many ways in this small Wisconsin city thousands of

 miles from Iraq's urban battlefields.

 "My strong opinion, let's get them out, let's get them home," Nielsen says

 of the U.S. troops in Iraq. "The costs, the lives, it has become too much

 of a burden."

 Baraboo may or may not reflect the national mood on the Iraq war, but the

 city is definitely connected to the war, as are so many small places

 throughout the nation. In Baraboo, the war comes home to a city of

 colorful Victorian houses, sturdy schools and graceful churches.

 Here, they watched on television the shock and awe of the military

 campaign that began on March 19, 2003, and reached an early crescendo with

 the toppling of a Saddam Hussein statue and the quick seizure of Baghdad.

 From mission accomplished to extended missions, the war has dragged on.

 The city's citizens stand behind the citizen-soldiers even as some begin

 to question the war itself. Baraboo is one of 30 Wisconsin communities

 where a referendum on the war has been placed on a local ballot April 4.

 The Baraboo-based Guard unit and its 125 soldiers - gathered from area

 towns and surrounding states - are stationed in Kuwait.

 The soldiers are missed because they are so well known.

 At Baraboo High School each Tuesday, students and teachers wear tiny

 yellow ribbons, honoring family, friends and alumni serving in the

 military. Among them are Casey Rindfleisch, Kaleb Becraft and Michael

 Dotson, last year's seniors, now this year's soldiers, deployed with other

 members of the local Guard unit. They were notified of their deployment

 just minutes before going to their high school graduation.

 John Rindfleisch, a real estate agent, pushes the war from his mind when

 he's at work.

 "But when I get home I look at the news, and every time I hear of a

 soldier being killed I cringe," he says.

 At Medical Associates in Baraboo, where Kaleb Becraft's mother, Jauna,

 works, the staff wears red shirts on Fridays to show support for the

 troops. At a local bank, a scholarship is being held for Kaleb, an honors

 student who was due to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison this

 past fall. "He's a hard worker who cares about others," Jauna Becraft says

 of her son.

 At the Baraboo Assembly of God Church, parishioners offer prayers for the

 sons of the Rev. Michael Dotson and his wife, Mary. Two flags are dug into

 a flower pot, and two blue stars hang from the front door of the Dotsons'

 home, symbols of Matthew and his younger brother Michael, both deployed.

 For Mary Dotson, the war literally comes home every time she receives an

 instant message from her sons - their pictures pop up on the computer

 screen.

 The Rev. Michael Dotson says fighting the war was important to secure

 America. But he is concerned that civil war may now break out and remains

 mystified by the motivations of suicide bombers.

 "I don't know anyone who grasped how long this would take," he says.

 At Quintessential Quilts on the city's main square, customers ask Anna

 Krause about her son Gabriel Teniente, born on the Fourth of July.

 Teniente, serving with the local Guard unit, was due home on leave this

 month.

 Anna Krause is against the war, so upset by the events that she helped

 gather signatures to place the anti-war referendum on the April ballot.

 "This isn't what I wanted for my son," she says.

 A local resident, Rob Nelson, spearheaded the referendum effort. He said

 he was driven by the simple need to do something to bring the troops home.

 The question he placed on the ballot is simple: "Shall the United States

 begin an immediate, phased withdrawal of its troops from Iraq?"

 "Is anyone going to pay attention?" Nelson says. "Who knows whether any of

 the policy-makers will give a hoot what the vote will be. It's one more

 opportunity to voice our concern and make a difference."

 There's an eerie silence at the local armory. Some of the unit's personal

 gear is stored in lockers upstairs. The gym is empty.

 Sgt. Nathan Weyh, who served one tour in Iraq, sits in the office, waiting

 for phone calls from family members, eager to help with any problem they

 might have.

 "The local Baraboo people support the Baraboo boys," he says. "How they

 support the war is a different story. It's 50-50 on the war. But the way

 they talk about the guys, they're thankful that they're there and they

 want them to come home."

 Some area soldiers who served in the early stages of the war have already

 returned home. Steve Kayartz did a tour in Iraq from May 2003 to January

 2004, returned to the area and bought a home with a white picket fence in

 Portage. He landed a job in security at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells

 and worked his way up to night manager.

 "The war is with me every day," Kayartz says. "I appreciate things a lot

 more. I just remember being over there."

 At the Baraboo police station, just off the main square, fellow officers

 follow the war and want to know how Chris Nielsen's 23-year-old son,

 Jacob, is doing on a second tour of duty.

 Chris Nielsen is a police detective, and his wife, Mary, is a claims

 adjuster with the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association. Chris says he

 used to grow upset when he heard others oppose the war. No more. His

 support ebbed after Hurricane Katrina, he says, a storm that he says

 showed that American troops were needed at home.

 "Are we going to be able to look back on this 50 and 100 years from now

 and feel good about this war?" he asks.

 Mary says, "I'm not really one way or the other. I'm more concerned for my

 son's safety."

 Their support for the troops remains firm, though. Tiny flags and yellow

 ribbons decorate the outside of their home. Chris also makes sure a few

 tattered yellow ribbons remain tied to lampposts on the road into the

 city. He and Mary took hundreds of the other ones down shortly after the

 unit pulled out of town.

 The Nielsens discuss the war over drinks at Quindt's Town Lounge, a cozy

 tavern just down the road from the local armory. The tavern's affable

 owner, Mick Quindt, is a Vietnam veteran.

 When the troops were deployed, Quindt was among the first in the city to

 reach into his wallet and offer cash to help purchase a satellite phone

 for the unit. Other donations poured in, not just for the phone but for

 digital cameras. The community recently raised another $6,000 to send

 calling cards and other items to the troops.

 "I feel you have to stay in Iraq," Quindt says. "Now that we're into it, I

 don't think you can pull out. If we do that, they (the insurgents) won and

 we lost."

 The Nielsens sit silently as Quindt speaks. He's a good friend. They

 respect his politics and his views.

 They sip their drinks. They look at the television. There is an image from

 Iraq, file footage of troops.

 "The news still stops me in my tracks every night," Chris Nielsen says.

 They wait for the return of their son and other members of the local unit.

 They hope to see them all by Christmas.

From the Mar. 17, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel