In February 2003, he was co-opted as a platoon leader. He was training as part of a special forces unit when the 1457th was deployed, but the platoon of 20 soldiers from Mt. Pleasant didn't have a leader and hadn't for years. They were used to doing things a certain way, La Giglia said. "It was a tough transition at the first."

Through war-front dangers and humanitarian missions, the men grew together. One of his most satisfying efforts during the year was cleaning up munitions, rockets and bombs from the countryside. "They were just laying around everywhere — on people's farmland, in their yards. There were just huge cachets of this stuff. We would fill bunkers and huge rooms with the stuff."

The men heard story after story of children whose legs had been blown off stepping on explosives like the ones they were cleaning up. "It made us feel really good about what we were doing."

And after more than 10 years in the Guard, and a safe return from Iraq, La Giglia says it's now time to look forward. And he is taking giant steps since he returned from the field. He and his wife are new parents to their 5-month-old adopted son, Colin. La Giglia just finished his first semester of medical school at Des Moines University in Iowa.

Looking back, La Giglia believes his experiences in Iraq make him more objective about evaluating the stresses of life. He sees students going crazy at school and thinks, "Hey, it's a B minus. You'll get over it!"

"I don't think things are as big a deal as they used to be," he said.

He is looking forward to more time in the military. He has 11 years in and nine more years to go. He'd like to spend some time on active duty as a doctor.

"I really believe we are doing what we should be doing over there," he said. "I want to deploy again. I plan on being a soldier for 20 years or so and that's what we do. That's our job."

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E-mail: lucy@desnews.com