Retired Army Sergeant First Class Jeff Bushong served 20 years in the Army and did five tours of duty in Iraq, three tours of them in Operation Iraqi Freedom and two in the first Gulf War. He heard about bin Laden's death Sunday night on his way to work.
"I was silently very, very happy. It's almost like a victory in a long-awaited, I guess you almost think of it as a court trial where you're waiting for the verdict, and waiting and waiting, and he finally got what was deserved of him," said Bushong.
The retired soldier says bin Laden's death is not the end of terrorism and the situation may get worse before it gets better.
"I think it's a huge victory to see it was our troops, I believe it was the Navy Seals that did it, that made it even more prideful," said Bushong.
Another area soldier, 27-year-old Staff Sergeant John Bittig, has done three tours of duty, two in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. He is now posted in Germany. His father, Bruce Bittig, a Bolingbrook resident and school bus driver, says bin Laden's death is a huge victory.
"Well, it's good but there are so many other ones. We can't let our guard down. Not for a second. We've seen them around, in and out, trying to make bombs and stuff. We can't trust them," said Bittig.
Bitting says he believes the U.S. battle against terrorism is far from over.
"You know, we can't stop," he said.
