Connecticut Iraq War veterans were saddened and troubled by the resurgence of militants marching into Iraq, Thursday.
“Angry, disappointed, and frankly, not surprised,” Retired Army Specialist Jordan Massa said.
The Rocky Hill man saw intense combat in the city of Bequbah, Iraq in 2007 and lost comrades.
“There were RPGs all the time, machine gun fire, roadside bombs. Anything and everything they could possible throw at us, they threw at us.”
He argues that U.S. troops should have stayed in Iraq longer, to prevent a vacuum for terrorists.
“You got to stay. You got to stay until the job is finished and we left too soon.”
Retired Army Sergeant Micah Welintukonis also served in Iraq. He claims some unrest was inevitable when the U.S. left in 2011.
“You know people get in fist fights over football games. Now magnify that times a hundred when your team is losing,” Welintukonis said.
Sandra Lee, a retired Army Staff Sergeant from Manchester, built schools and worked on infrastructure in Western Baghdad. She said she was saddened by the news but felt that her time with the Iraqi people was valuable.
“They were actually seeing the fruits of their labor, and the financial assistance that we were giving them. They could see viable progress,” Lee said.