Vet On Bin Laden's Death: "Very Good Day"

Lew Foster was watching television Sunday night when a news alert disrupted his show.

The news? Osama bin Laden, the man behind the Sept. 11 attacks and the face of evil to the American public for a decade, was dead.

For Foster, 62, who fought in Vietnam and spent 38 years in the Army and Army Reserve, the news symbolized victory.

To say he was surprised is an understatement. To say he was happy is missing the point.

"I was so happy, you could have heard me for two blocks," Foster said Monday at the American Legion Doughboy Memorial Post 138 off Cirque Drive West, where he is adjutant.

"This is a very good day."

From coffee shops to bus stops to water coolers across University Place, people were talking about how the U.S. finally got the most wanted man in the world. For the South Sound and its heavy military presence, bin Laden's death carried special significance.

"It makes me feel real good," said Foster, who retired as a sergeant first class. "Our troops are putting their lives on the line each and every day."

Roughly 1,000 troops from Joint Base Lewis-McChord are currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many have died serving since American operations began in the Middle East after Sept. 11.

Rose Hodgeboom, 59, is a retired Air Force sergeant who also served during Vietnam.

She said she was happily surprised that bin Laden had finally been taken down, but she's concerned that a likely retaliation could make the job even more dangerous for U.S. troops on the ground.

"I'm hoping it gets our troops home earlier," she said of bin Laden's death. "As a mom, I don't want to see anyone else's kid killed."

But Hodgeboom said she hoped for one more thing to bring her closure.

"I'm hoping they show his picture," she said.