In remembrance — Utahns salute the fallen

Later, at Camp Williams, Walker addressed hundreds of military personnel and their families on the day that the governor ordinarily honors the Utah National Guard — which just happened to fall on Sept. 11 this year.

"Utah has a higher percentage of our service men and women (in the Utah National Guard) deployed than any other state," she said. "Last year, at one time, it was 75 percent."

Walker praised Guard members for their passion for freedom and democracy, their hard work, good training and organization, and willingness to "step up and perform according to the highest standards of the military."

She also thanked the families who are left behind and who cope with loneliness, worry, family issues and sometimes financial pressures.

One young couple, Sgt. Spencer Willardson and his wife, Yulia, had much to celebrate on Saturday. Spencer Willardson, who received the Bronze Star, was deployed to Iraq only 11 months after they were wed, and his Russian-born wife worked 50 hours a week and kept busy with LDS Church activities during the 13 months he was gone.

"I didn't want to think about what could happen to him," Yulia Willardson said. "I knew he would be gone, but I didn't think it would come so quickly — only three days' notice. I missed him very much."

Since his return Feb. 29, the couple celebrated by traveling to California and Russia, where she has family, and visited friends in the Ukraine, where they both served LDS Church missions.

Best of all, they now are expecting a baby. "We've had some experiences that were hard," Spencer Willardson said, grinning, "so I hope we are prepared."

Sgt. Greg Bolton, who also received a Bronze Star for serving in Iraq with the 145th Field Artillery, said he and others who met citizens of that country found the people there were "delighted" that America has helped them. "They're not under the crushing thumb of Saddam Hussein anymore," Bolton said.

That sentiment was shared by 2nd Lt. Wayne L. Lee, who said those who have returned from the Air National Guard note that regular citizens in Iraq are happy that because of American intervention, girls in Iraq now can attend school, citizens can move about freely, wells are being dug, electrical power is being restored, medicine and food are available, and life is better than before.

Lee suggested that a small group of radicals in Iraq "put on a show" for Western TV cameras, giving the false impression that the entire country is in turmoil and all people there want the Americans out. But his impression was that people who live away from the combat areas are relieved the United States has freed them from an oppressive regime.