By John Gordon*
Feb. 28, 2008 | MINNEAPOLIS (UMNS)

After two years away from his family for training and a tour of duty
in Iraq, Capt. Colin Fleming of the Minnesota Army National Guard
was in no mood for a homecoming party.

"Being in a crowd is something that’s taken me awhile to work on,"
Fleming says. "People will talk to me every once in a while and
say, ‘Hey, where have you been?’ It’s kind of complex – not
avoiding you, it’s just going to be awhile."

But Fleming knew about many of the adjustments he would face on
his return, thanks to the Minnesota Guard’s Beyond the Yellow
Ribbon program. The project, led by a United Methodist chaplain,
helps returning citizen soldiers reintegrate with their families and
communities.

Lt. Col. John Morris, a full-time state support chaplain for the
Minnesota Army National Guard, was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and 2004. He knows the challenges confronting
soldiers as they return home.

"This is like having your house burn down when you send somebody to war," he says. "This is a long-term
engagement for people who are dealing literally with a form of trauma."

Ann Fleming has noticed changes in her husband since his return from Iraq.

"He’s a different person than he was two years ago," she says. "And our daughter is different, and I’m different.
And it’s normal for us to go through that."

As a result of his duty in Iraq, Colin Fleming doesn’t like loud noises. Going from the sound of artillery fire to
listening to his daughter, Morgan, practice the saxophone took some adjustment.

So did adapting to family schedules after his wife spent the two years of his deployment as a single parent, raising
10-year-old Morgan.

"After being in charge of our (military) group across the board, I had very definite expectations about what the
schedule should be, what our activities should be," Fleming says. "And both Morgan and Ann have, for the last two
years, been running their own show."

Morgan, a fifth-grader, joined a local hockey team during her father’s deployment.

"It was weird when he came back because there were three of us walking around the house," she says. Her dad’s
absence was tough at times. "It was pretty hard," she says, "and there were some times when I really missed him."