Soldiers, Retirees Relieved But Wary After Bin Laden’s Death

Osama bin Laden's death was the pulse of conversation Monday at Coffee Strong in Lakewood. Most of the day’s coffee crowd, which skews heavily to Joint Base Lewis-McChord personnel and military retirees, were elated at the news that came Sunday night.

“Almost everybody has mentioned it,” said Joseph, one of the co-executives of the veteran-owned and operated coffeehouse not far from the base gates. Joseph, who didn’ t want to give his last name, said he served five years in the Army.

“The first thing they said was, ‘ Hey, Osama's dead, we got him.'"

Coffee Strong bills itself as “pro-GI” and “anti-war,” and offers a free cup of coffee to soldiers along with legal and educational resources. It’s just off base near the Freedom Bridge, where people were spotted celebrating Sunday night after President Obama’ s announcement that bin Laden had been killed.

That elation, though, is tempered by the expectation of what could come.

"I don’ t think it's going to be the end,” said Army Spc. Eddie Prescod, 24, of Brooklyn, now stationed at the base. Prescod said the 9/11 attacks prompted him to join the military right out of high school. He recently returned from a one-year tour in Afghanistan.

“You still have his generals underneath (bin Laden). For every action there is a reaction,” he said.

Bin Laden and the al-Qaida terrorist plot on the Twin Towers in New York held personal significance to others, including retired Army Sgt. Lafayette Duval. His eyes teared up when asked how 9/11 had affected him.

"Too many," Duval said, referring to some of his friends who died in the worst terrorist plot in the country’ s history.

Knowing that the terrorist network's figurehead was killed provided some closure, he said. Still, though it may have slowed down the terrorist group, Duvall believes there will be some kind of retaliation.

Roughly 1,000 personnel from JBLM are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, a base
spokesman said.