MONROE - Soldiers from the Wisconsin National Guard 32nd Infantry Brigade returned this week from Iraq and are settling in with their families after a year apart.
One Argyle soldier is making plans for his future, while another military family in Monroe is getting ready to pick up where they left off with their lives.
Specialist Michael Cuevas, with the 105th Cavalry, returned from Iraq to the home of his parents, Benito and Melissa Cuevas, in Argyle, Monday.
Cuevas has made very few plans for the immediate future. He's waiting to attend college at UW-Oshkosh, where he intends to study microbiology.
"Right now, I'm just being lazy," he said.
Cuevas has four years left in his enlistment. He doesn't think he will be called for overseas duty for about a year.
"But I'm confident I will be in a few years," he said.
What Cuevas missed most being over seas is "basically the freedom" to go and do what he pleases.
"Go out to the movies, eat real food - not something out of packages," he said.
Cuevas is looking for homemade food, like his mother's lasagna. Army food, he said, is contracted.
And while the soldiers did get hot showers overseas, Cuevas said getting a shower required a trip through a sandstorm to and from the showers.
In Monroe, Karla Lemak is waiting for her husband, Master Sgt. Lucian Lemak, with the 127th Infantry, to be released Thursday after his debriefing. She and their children, ages 15, 6 and 2, will make the trip to Fon du Lac to pick him up.
Lemak said the children have been planning the homecoming since they found out their father was returning. The children did not make the trip to Volk Field last week when the planes arrived.
"The two-year-old, he doesn't realize what's going on. But he knows and talks about daddy," Lemak said. "But the six-year-old, she's daddy's girl."
"There's lots we want to do," Lemak said. "One thing, we will make a trip to visit his parents in Denver. And then he's going to look for employment again."
Lucian Lemak, 43, is an experienced cheesemaker, but had left his previous employer about eight months before he deployed to Iraq.
Besides the trip to Denver, Lemak said the family will be doing Christmas again.
"Our six-year-old daughter told me, 'All I want for Christmas is to visit Daddy in Iraq," she said. "That was the one thing I couldn't give her."
The family needs to get to know each other again, which is not an easy task for any of them at times.
"We need some time to pick up where we left off," Lemak said. "He's told me I've done a wonderful job, but I think it's intimidating (for him) to know everything has been taken care of while he's been gone."
But, Lemak said, she had help from friends and family while her husband was gone.
"I have a core group of friends and family (for support). They have listened to me cry and held my hand, and having a baby-sitter and being able to leave the house is really, really nice," she said.
This tour of duty, almost one year long, was the second one for Lucian and Karla, who have been married for five years.
The first deployment sent Lucian to help after Hurricane Katrina for about three months in 2005, followed by a year-long deployment overseas until November 2006.
One Argyle soldier is making plans for his future, while another military family in Monroe is getting ready to pick up where they left off with their lives.
Specialist Michael Cuevas, with the 105th Cavalry, returned from Iraq to the home of his parents, Benito and Melissa Cuevas, in Argyle, Monday.
Cuevas has made very few plans for the immediate future. He's waiting to attend college at UW-Oshkosh, where he intends to study microbiology.
"Right now, I'm just being lazy," he said.
Cuevas has four years left in his enlistment. He doesn't think he will be called for overseas duty for about a year.
"But I'm confident I will be in a few years," he said.
What Cuevas missed most being over seas is "basically the freedom" to go and do what he pleases.
"Go out to the movies, eat real food - not something out of packages," he said.
Cuevas is looking for homemade food, like his mother's lasagna. Army food, he said, is contracted.
And while the soldiers did get hot showers overseas, Cuevas said getting a shower required a trip through a sandstorm to and from the showers.
In Monroe, Karla Lemak is waiting for her husband, Master Sgt. Lucian Lemak, with the 127th Infantry, to be released Thursday after his debriefing. She and their children, ages 15, 6 and 2, will make the trip to Fon du Lac to pick him up.
Lemak said the children have been planning the homecoming since they found out their father was returning. The children did not make the trip to Volk Field last week when the planes arrived.
"The two-year-old, he doesn't realize what's going on. But he knows and talks about daddy," Lemak said. "But the six-year-old, she's daddy's girl."
"There's lots we want to do," Lemak said. "One thing, we will make a trip to visit his parents in Denver. And then he's going to look for employment again."
Lucian Lemak, 43, is an experienced cheesemaker, but had left his previous employer about eight months before he deployed to Iraq.
Besides the trip to Denver, Lemak said the family will be doing Christmas again.
"Our six-year-old daughter told me, 'All I want for Christmas is to visit Daddy in Iraq," she said. "That was the one thing I couldn't give her."
The family needs to get to know each other again, which is not an easy task for any of them at times.
"We need some time to pick up where we left off," Lemak said. "He's told me I've done a wonderful job, but I think it's intimidating (for him) to know everything has been taken care of while he's been gone."
But, Lemak said, she had help from friends and family while her husband was gone.
"I have a core group of friends and family (for support). They have listened to me cry and held my hand, and having a baby-sitter and being able to leave the house is really, really nice," she said.
This tour of duty, almost one year long, was the second one for Lucian and Karla, who have been married for five years.
The first deployment sent Lucian to help after Hurricane Katrina for about three months in 2005, followed by a year-long deployment overseas until November 2006.