This Friday - Nov. 11 - Americans will pause again to honor the veterans of our nation's armed services.

Their legions span generations, from the declining number of men who fought a two-ocean war over 60 years ago to a growing number of men and women who have served in today's war against terrorism.

Many veterans of our current military operations overseas, including Army reservists and members of the National Guard, are back home yet still in uniform.

Sgt. Paige Dahlgard, a 2000 graduate of Highline High School who returned from Iraq earlier this year after serving a tour of duty there, is one of these new veterans.

A member of the Army National Guard, Dahlgard was stationed in Balad, Iraq, with the HHC 81st Brigade Combat Team.

As an executive assistant to the commanding general of the brigade, which conducted combat and security operations there for a year, she "got to experience the transfer of authority [from Americans to Iraqis] in June 2004 and the elections in January, which was pretty amazing."

Reflecting on her service in Iraq, Dahlgard recently told the Times/News, "My opinion is that we're there and we need to stick it out.

"Some of the American public may disagree about keeping the troops there and not pulling them out right away, but there's a reason."

Dahlgard joined the National Guard in May 2001 after completing her first year at Bellevue Community College.

"I have always looked for opportunities to volunteer to serve my community, and this was another opportunity for me to serve my state and possibly my country," she said.

Although Dahlgard didn't go to basic training until March 2002 (she drilled with her unit in the meantime), when terrorists attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, she thought, "I may end up in the fight."

When she enlisted, Dahlgard "signed up to be a cook but that didn't last long. I've done everything from work on a security detail to working as executive assistant to our commanding general."

Military service runs in the family. Her brother, Nels, is a first lieutenant in the Marine Corps, where he flies Huey helicopters.

Their parents are Dick Dahlgard, owner of Dick's Camera and Digital in Burien, and Marjorie Olson of Dundee, Ore.

The HHC 81st Brigade Combat Team mobilized in November 2003.

With 4,000 soldiers from Washington, Minnesota and South Dakota, the brigade trained at Fort Lewis and then Fort Irwin, Calif., by participating in realistic combat drills.

"As every unit does, we spent weeks and months preparing our equipment," Dahlgard noted.

The 81st deployed directly to Kuwait, and reached Iraq "around April Fool's Day, 2004," she continued.

"I was there for 361 days, four days shy of a full year. Not that I was counting days or anything."

Balad, where they were stationed, is 80 km. north of Baghdad.

"Not every Iraqi is anti-American," declared Dahlgard, who had "day to day contact with the local population."

"The majority of those I met were sincerely glad we were there and were helping them....

"Experiencing it is one thing. Seeing it on TV is another," she observed.

"Based on my experience, the good news [about what is happening in Iraq] wasn't making it to the American public."

Troops there have access to CNN and the Internet, Dahlgard added, "and the media did not cover the good stories."

These include projects by the brigade's civil affairs section to build schools and water treatment plants and rebuilding other structures.

Many Iraqis in Balad "had never seen clean water except in bottles" until the treatment plants were built, she said.

Observing Iraq's successful election in January was "rewarding" - and "surreal" as they watched news reports on CNN, Dahlgard recalled.

"As an individual, I support the troops supporting the mission as dictated" by the president, she added.

"Right now it's pretty broad, but it's giving a free democratic Iraq back to the Iraqis" - an Iraq that's "secured internally with secure borders and with self rule.

"The American public may not see the positive effects of it until 10 years down the road," Dahlgard said.

"We always want instant results, but that's not always the case, especially with the war in Iraq."

Ralph Nichols can be reached at newsdesk@robinsonnews.com, or at 206-444-4873.