Prepare for new streams of yellow ribbons and heartache throughout the region next fall as the Marine reservists of Spokane’s own Battery P depart for another tour in Iraq.

Once again, the battery will serve in Anbar province, which has been one of this war’s most deadly regions. While the group includes many new faces, others are returning for a second tour. All will forgo the safety and comfort of home to endure violence and the threat of peril.

These sacrifices, as always, won’t center solely on the Marines themselves. They’ll ripple outward through the people who love them most. Papa Battery will leave wives and girlfriends with worry and work, often strained to perform the roles of mother and father both. They’ll leave parents, the tension visible on their faces, pushing against the terrors of watching the war unfold on television and Web sites, yet often unable to pull their eyes away.

They’ll leave behind daughters who need them and sons sad to face a season of deer hunting or basketball-watching without their dads beside them. Their deployments will raise the daily anxiety levels of grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and co-workers.

The ripples of this war will once again lap through the networks that surround each of these Marines. Though civilians may find it nearly incomprehensible, military families throughout the Inland Northwest know just what this deployment means.

Last time Papa Battery served at Al Asad Airbase, and a steady flow of care packages, hundreds, in fact, followed them clear around the world. There were M&Ms and red licorice. Beef jerky and homemade salsa. Power Bars and chocolate-chip cookies.

The mountains of snacks and treats symbolized the empathy here at home.

And on March 2, 2005, many of these families celebrated the happiest day of their lives, the safe return of 118 Marines who landed in Spokane and flew into the arms of their loved ones.

Now it starts again. The rounds of brave goodbyes and tears. More than two years later, the sentiments of American civilians and soldiers alike have begun to change. We support American troops, of course, but our approval of this war has steadily diminished.

It’s long past time to begin winding this effort down.

Fortunately, recent news from Anbar province has been heartening. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, points to the region’s recent relative calm as an indicator that the president’s surge strategy has had some success.

Here in Spokane, we send our deep gratitude and warmest wishes to the Marines and the families of Battery P. Our best hope will be this war’s end. May that day come very soon.