NORFOLK, Va. – March 20, 2023 marks 20 years since the start of the Iraq War.
Hampton Roads not only had units from different military branches deploy overseas, but according to the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, the area became home to about 80,000 veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Francisco Lassiter is one of them. The combat Army veteran tells News 3’s Angela Bohon that he spent 15 months in Iraq as a dismounted rifleman.
“I remember getting the orders and being pretty nervous, signing certain paperwork in case something happened to me, and making a call to my mom and other family and friends. It hit me and definitely felt real,” Lassiter recalled.
Lassiter served as a dismounted rifleman and witnessed all that war brings.
“Just what you would imagine in a movie is what it looked like,” he said.
He described his job patrolling the streets.
“We would dismount and go door-to-door during the day and then at nighttime, conduct raids on intel that we conducted during the day.”
The Army veteran gets choked up thinking about friends he lost in the war.
“There are some great young men who got lost over there, some real heroes.”
The camaraderie is a positive memory for Lassiter.
“They became like family - watching your back, you watching theirs.”
Lassiter retired from the Army in 2010 and says, "It seems like forever ago, but it's definitely always in the back of my mind."