Illinois' and suburbs' role in the Afghan war

Illinois has been deeply involved in the war in Afghanistan — thousands of soldiers from the state have served there, and dozens have died.

Ralph and Linda Grieco's son Kevin was killed by a suicide bomber there in 2008. The Winfield couple planned to closely watch President Obama's announcement Wednesday night regarding the future of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, looking for clues about how committed the United States remains to a conflict that has cost so much.

“I hope that whatever plan is there is done with some resolve, that those who have given their lives have not done it for naught,” said Ralph Grieco, 62.

Grieco's son, who lived in Bartlett, was part of the Illinois National Guard's 33rd Infantry Brigade, a unit with close to 3,000 troops whose year in Afghanistan was the largest Illinois guard deployment since World War II. The brigade recently learned it could be headed back in two years, making it likely Illinois' first-hand involvement in Afghanistan will continue.

Here's a look at details about Illinois' role in the Afghan war:

Casualties

In all, 71 Illinois residents have died in the war in Afghanistan: 19 National Guard members and 52 from the other military branches.

The first casualty among Illinois troops, according to a database of military deaths maintained by The Associated Press, was 20-year-old sailor Bryant Leroy Davis, who drowned in the Arabian Sea in November 2001 after falling off a ship supporting the Afghan war.

Troop numbers

Illinois National Guard units have been on the ground virtually every moment since the war began in 2001, guard spokesman Maj. Brad Leighton said.

Groups of about 20 have rotated in and out of Afghanistan since 2008 working with Polish troops. Just this week the next group of 20 held a deployment ceremony in Springfield.

The 33rd Infantry Brigade is based in Champaign but has troops from across Illinois.

Mission

The 33rd Infantry Brigade soldiers went to Afghanistan to train that country's soldiers and police in mid-2008 and returned a year later. They were in the country during some of the most violent months of the war to date, with American deaths in double digits for many of those months.

Brig. Gen. Scott Thoele took leave from his job as a banker in Quincy to lead 33rd Brigade. A colonel at the time, he was blunt ahead of the deployment in saying the Afghan army and police were far from an effective force.

Thoele now says his troops helped their Afghan counterparts make solid progress after starting from scratch.

“The units with good leadership were very good, and some units that didn't have good leadership weren't very good,” he said. “When you try to build an army very quickly, sometimes the leadership will lag the troops.”

Future deployment

The 33rd Brigade, now under a different commander, recently learned it's likely to be headed back to Afghanistan in 2013.

“We always kind of expected we'd have to go back again on a recurring basis,” Thoele said. “Unless things change significantly in the next two years, which I don't think is going to happen, unless we just totally leave.”

Thoele says he doesn't worry that the United States might be losing its appetite for the Afghan mission too quickly or be heading toward a premature exit.

“I understand why people say that, but it's pretty clear the Afghans are going to need some help for a little while yet,” he said. “I believe we're committed to that.”

A father's view

Ralph Grieco hopes that at some point the payoff for the war that cost him his son is an Afghanistan governed in some way that insures the country won't cultivate another threat to the United States.

People around Grieco asked often how the recent killing of Osama bin Laden affected him, whether it provided him any sort of closure or vindication as he thinks — and he says he does so every day — about his son.

“People said, `How do you feel? How do you feel?' and `We got the guy,”' Grieco said. “Those pictures of the young kids celebrating outside the White House just turned our stomachs, because it didn't bring Kevin back. It didn't bring any of them back.”

Grieco hopes American troops aren't removed from Afghanistan too soon because the country has grown weary of war. “Only history can tell you whether or not what you've done has been done for a reason. ... I think the verdict is out on that one.”