With one 20-year-old daughter in Baghdad and her twin stationed at a northern Iraqi base, Rob and Peggy Claggett, of Eudora, have had plenty to worry about in the past two years.
"I was spending $7 a week on postage," Peggy Claggett said Friday. "I tried to mail a letter every day and a package every week."
Now 21 years old, Sgts. Melanie and Melissa Claggett, of the U.S. Army Reserve's 317th Quartermaster Battalion in Lawrence, each spent 13-month overlapping tours of duty in Iraq.
Melanie returned in June 2004 while Melissa came home in March of this year. Although they encountered a few mortar fire attacks, neither lost a close friend or witnessed another soldier die.
The sisters, who graduated from Eudora High in 2002, spoke at Pioneer Ridge Health Center on Friday, thanking the residents for the care packages they sent during their deployment.
Melanie served as a commander's driver at Camp Anaconda near Balad Air Base, in northern Iraq. Melissa was a warehouse worker at a Baghdad base.
Sgts. Melissa, left, and Melanie Claggett, 21-year old twins, of the U.S. Army Reserves 317th Quartermaster Battalion in Lawrence, each served 13-month overlapping tours of duty in Iraq. They spoke to residents at Pioneer Ridge Health Center on Friday afternoon and thanked them for sending care packages while the twins were in Iraq.
Melissa said she often threw candy through a fence to greet children and received thanks from Iraqi men, who were given jobs on the base.
But adjustment was difficult for Melissa, who began serving 10 months after her sister.
"I called her almost every day or every other day," Melissa said.
And her worried and anxious tone was too familiar for Melanie.
"I tried to help her get through some things, but some of it, you just have to get used to yourself," Melanie said.
Once a crying Melissa called Melanie after she experienced her first mortar attack with her unit.
"I just said, 'OK, you didn't die, did you? So get over it,'" Melanie said.
During April 2004, not even their commanding officers could keep the twins apart.
The two each traveled to the other's base without each other's knowledge.
So after a helicopter ride and her arrival into Iraq's capital, Melanie found herself at her sister's base of 20,000 soldiers.
Four military police officers rushed Melanie to the Baghdad airport, where she received the final seat on a flight back to Camp Anaconda.
The twins finally linked up and spent three days together.
And in March, Melissa's arrival back to Kansas united the twins again.
"I think I was just very fortunate that they were both in relatively safe places," Peggy Claggett said. "I am very, very fortunate."
Comments
LJWorld.com doesn’t necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.