(By Hart Seely)

They don't talk about it much. They push the subject from their minds. It serves no purpose. But now and then, the thought does surface. After all, they did their time. They served their country. They planned to move on.

They weren't supposed to be here.

But the U.S. Army needed them, and it invoked the once rare policy it calls "stop loss," though others call it a "backdoor draft."

So here they are: In Iraq.

"There's no sense in dwelling on these things," said Staff Sergeant Paul B. Zundel, 33, of Baton Rouge, La., who in more peaceful times would have ended his five-year Army career in September. "All you can do is do your job and take it one day at a time."

Zundel is one of at least 10 members of Bravo Troop, 1-71 Cavalry Regiment, whose plans to go civilian this year were scuttled by the military policy that tethers soldiers to their weapons in times of need. Back when they enlisted, at least somewhere in all those papers they signed, a clause stipulated that they were committing themselves to eight years in the military, if needed.

And with two wars under way, the need has come.

When Zundel signed up in September 2000 before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks the possibility of having to serve an extra year never crossed his mind. Zundel had received a four-year degree from theUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham, a history major, and he figured to hang up his helmet after five years.

"I want to start a family," he said. "I just don't think I can do that while in the Army, not at this stage. That's the big reason why I wanted to get out."

Zundel had served in Kosovo and already done a year in Iraq. But in mid-2004, the Army's leadership began breaking the news about stop loss.

They offered many soldiers a choice: You could re-enlist for two years, stay with your unit and likely go to Afghanistan. Or you could roll the dice on stop loss. If the Army opted to keep you on duty, you could expect to go somewhere else like Iraq.

Zundel and many others rolled the dice.

"I really didn't believe it when they first told us," said Sgt. Timothy R. Majewski, 22, of Buffalo. "I don't think anybody believed it. . . . They said stop loss was coming down, but I was skeptical."

Majewski was due to leave the service Oct. 8.

Now, he's looking to get out after the 1st Battalion returns home, sometime late next summer. He probably will be leaving by this time next year.

The death tolls in Iraq and Afghanistan have made it harder to recruit new soldiers. Army leaders have defended stop loss as the most effective way to keep combat units running smoothly.

In Bravo Troop, where stop loss soldiers are common, a certain protocol about the policy exists: They try not to think about it.

"You can't let it affect you," said Sgt. Christopher A. Seymour, of Lacey, Wash. "If you do, you're just going to screw over everybody around you."

Without stop loss, he would have left the Army July 17.

"I'm not the only one," Seymour continued. "Half of my platoon is stop loss. If we let it get to us, the other guys who are here for two, three more years, they'll see us complaining, and so they'll complain, and it'll become ridiculous. You've just got to keep going."

Seymour, 22, is in his third deployment to a war. He already served two tours in Afghanistan.

"Yeah, for all of us, our time was up," he continued. "And, yeah, it just sucked. But what are you going to do? You're over here, and there's no sense letting it stew inside you. You have to do your job, so that everybody around you can get home safe. And right now, that's all that matters."

His sentiments echoed among stop loss soldiers: They will not let it affect their mission.

But they said it has been toughest on their families.

"For my wife, having an infant at home, it was hardest for her," said Spc. Delbert S. Hunter, 21, of Lexington, Ky. "I'm going to miss the first birthday and the first Christmas, all that stuff. Now, looking back with fond memories of the military. Instead, I'm here. And any time you're separated from a loved one, it's sad. You really wish you weren't. But you have to stay upbeat."

Hunter's wife is expecting their second child. Without stop loss, he would have left the Army Oct. 2.

"If I stayed in my room and dwelled on the fact that I'm not home, well, that would not make me get home any faster," Hunter said.

In some cases, parents reacted the most angrily to the news.

"It was just, 'Why? Why? You've already been to Afghanistan twice! Why do you have to go over for the third time, and to Iraq?' recalled Sgt. Andrew J. Kisz, 23, of Palm Harbor, Fla., of his folks' reaction. "It didn't make sense to them, 'Why does it have to be my son that gets stopped?' "

Kisz had planned to attend Appalachian State University in North Carolina 1d6a , where he was accepted for the fall semester. When stop loss came down, his parents called their congressman and even the governor. But nothing could change it.

"It bothered me when I first got here," Kisz said. "Now, I just kind of put it out of my mind. I try not to think about it, because that's not going to be beneficial to anybody here, including myself."

So they will serve the extra year.

"I've come to terms with it," Zundel said. "You know, I'm not the most religious person, but there are no atheists in the foxholes. There's got to be a reason why I'm over here again. So I just suck it up and look forward. Time is going to go by as it goes by...

"And, yeah, I did put a few plans on hold. . . When I do get out of the Army, that'll be a sad day, because I will miss it...It's just that it'll be time to move on. I really want to have a family."