Clallam: A soldier comes home after – Afghanistan tour

PORT ANGELES — Greg Dotson, like many others in the Army, wanted to see the world.

Dotson, who grew up in Port Angeles, did just that.

He served six months on the high desert of Afghanistan, playing his part in the war on terrorism.

There, Army 1st Lt. Dotson served as a fire support communications officer with Charlie Company, 1/505, 82nd Airborne Division, in three major missions: Operation Mountain Lion, Operation Panther Qlimax and Operation Mountain Sweep.

With President Bush this week aggressively building his case against Saddam Hussein, Dotson could very well be called up for a tour of duty in Iraq.

“Odds are good I’ll see Iraq pretty soon,” Dotson, 25, said this week during a visit home.

The Port Angeles High School graduate is visiting his parents, Terry and Mary Ann Dotson, and friends.

He returns to active duty Feb. 7.

“I came back happy to be home,” said Dotson, who is stationed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C., where he trained for six months prior to shipping out to Kandahar.

Dotson this week was greeted by several readerboards in front of Port Angeles businesses, with messages welcoming him home.

He’s scheduled to speak to the Roosevelt Middle School seventh-grade class in Port Angeles today as a favor to his friend and former teacher Tom Leinart, who corresponded via e-mail with Dotson while he was in Afghanistan.

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The rest of the story appears in the Thursday Peninsula Daily News. Click on SUBSCRIBE at the top of this page to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.

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