Heroes

How a black-sheep Guard unit returned heroes

When the 685 men of a proud California Army National Guard battalion were mobilized more than a year ago for duty in Iraq, they expected to tangle with insurgents, and they did

But these citizen-soldiers didn’t expect a series of scandals and criminal charges on top of heavy casualties that nearly crushed their fighting spirit. They were investigated for abusing Iraqi detainees and lost two leaders in back-to-back roadside bombings — one being one of the highest-ranking U.S. officers killed in Iraq.

From late 2004 through October 2005, the 1st Battalion of the 184th Infantry Regiment — nicknamed “The Night Stalkers” — was saddled with a reputation as the Bad News Bears of the U.S. military. The hard-luck battalion came home Jan. 16 with a welcome from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who called the guardsmen “true action heroes.” They’ve resumed their civilian jobs as police officers, teachers and business executives after their 18-month tour. They now explain how they redeemed their reputation and point to a string of commendations as proof of heroism.