By Staff
Woolard says she couldn’t have coped without either
By CLAUD HODGES
Newsroom Manager
Army PV2 Lauren Woolard, home from the service for a month, depended on her old and new ties to keep her going during her 14-month war experience in Iraq.
She is a native of Washington.
Her mother is Kathryn Wynne. Her father is Stanley Woolard Jr. Her brother is Stanley Woolard III.
Woolard said some of the more than 150 people she was deployed with to Iraq kept her going during her time in the war-torn country.
However, one in particular, Kandi White, became her best friend in Iraq.
Woolard arrived for her tour in Iraq on March 6, 2007. She came back to the United States to her base at Kelley Hill in Fort Benning, Ga., on May 2, 2008.
Woolard drove fuel tankers in convoys from fuel farms to fuel depots. She said most of this was done at night.
Woolard performed maintenance on vehicles.
For six months, she built shelters to store supplies beneath.
But one of her assignments, guard duty, turned out to be one of her jobs in Iraq she will never forget.
It earned her a CAB — Combat Action Badge.
It turned out to be a rocket that fell to the ground and exploded about 150 meters from the guard tower.
She said her friends helped her resolve her feelings about the near-miss.
Woolard has not decided whether to re-enlist when her commitment to the Army expires.
Woolard said she has mixed feelings.
Before her enlistment ends, she said, the Army has told her that it is possible that she might be deployed again.
If it happens, she said, her training and experience will have her prepared for the challenge for a return to the war.
She said her home support is great and her war support is great.
With that, she said, she is prepared to go back.