Rosemount Town Pages April 11, 2008
Finally back on home ground
By Emily Zimmer
When Staff Sgt. Erik Solheid first returned to American soil, he touched the ground. He can't really explain why. He just felt like he had to.
"It sounds stupid but it's the first thing I did," said Solheid, a Rosemount resident and National Guardsman.
It isn't only time he has felt a strong urge to touch good ol' American soil. He did the same thing four years ago when he returned from a tour of duty in Bosnia.
It seems like a fitting re-entry into one's homeland after a long absence and Solheid said it felt good. He returned to Minnesota in early March and was probably one of the few people in the state who was happy to see snow. He even jumped into a snowbank to celebrate.
"I'm not built for heat," he said of the 135 degree days he experienced in Iraq. "Give me 10- or 20-degree days."
Solheid was deployed for a year with the 247th Finance Detachments out of Roseville. Seven of those months were spent in Balad, Iraq. His unit was responsible for soldiers' pay accounts and financial inprocessing and outprocessing.
"We functioned like HR for the Army and operated as a bank," Solheid explained.
Solheid spent his time in Iraq at the LSA Anaconda base, 68 miles north of Baghdad. According to GlobalSecurity.org the base holds more than 25,000 military personnel and about 8,000 private contractors. Shared by the Army and the Air Force, it is one of the largest American bases in Iraq.
Solheid said his unit remained on the base while in Iraq and were fairly safe. However he said it was difficult to be away from his wife, two dogs and cat.
Solheid's commitment to the National Guard isn't just his. When he's deployed his whole family sacrifices what is dear to them, especially his wife of 10 years, Michelle.
Although she has enjoyed hearing his stories about Iraq, Michelle said this deployment seemed to drag on.
"I don't know why but this deployment seemed longer. Harder," she said.
Solheid agreed, adding, "30 days felt like 60."
During Erik's deployment Michelle kept their affairs in order which can be a lot. In addition she helped other families who haven't gone through a deployment as leader of the unit's Family Readiness Group.
Michelle, a receptionist for the Rosemount Police Department, understands how important it is to have support and through this deployment she received plenty of it from her co-workers.
Through Eric's deployment she said co-workers supported her in various ways. She said some made an extra effort just to ask her how she was doing while others took her out to lunch.
"It was just nice to feel like they cared," Michelle said.
That support didn't just comfort Michelle it also brought Erik some peace because he felt like his wife was being taken care of while he was several time zones away.
"Everybody worries about what's going on at home and you can't do anything about it," Erik said. "(Michelle being helped) freed a load off my shoulders so I could do what I needed to do."
While in Iraq, the city of Rosemount also treated Erik. City of Rosemount employees donated items for care packages sent to the relatives of city employees serving overseas.
"I got a ton of Mystic Lake playing cards," Erik laughed as he recalled the contents of the care package. Michelle said one of the police officers has a relative that works at the casino and had a bunch of used decks. Now those cards are spread all over Iraq entertaining soldiers.
To say thank you for the support they received Erik presented some unique gifts for the police department and for the city. Erik brought back American flags that had flown over the base during his deployment.
"They were a really good employer to her. As a way to say thank you I brought back the flags," said Erik.
Reunited the couple has been adjusting to a new normal. Solheid has returned to work at Hennepin County Medical Center as an MRI technician. Otherwise the couple said they are just taking it easy and enjoying every day as it comes.
"This deployment has been a page in my life. It's not that I'm closing the book. I just want to turn the page and go back into life," Solheid said.
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