Mixed Reaction From Local Afghanistan Vets On President's Withdrawal Plan

BOSTON (CBS) - President Obama's plan to begin a major troop withdrawal from Afghanistan is getting a mixed reaction, even among those who have served in the country.

Army Specialist Marc Silvestri of Revere survived 460 firefights in thirteen months serving in Afghanistan.

With that kind of commitment he still urges President Obama to take the troop withdrawal slowly, worried about troops left unprotected on the ground.

"It's scary, especially if you're gong to be one of the soldiers left there to deal with the withdrawal with the lesser number of troops," said Silvestri.

He also worries about the United States tipping its hand on strategy, saying it's a numbers game that would feed the enemy.

WBZ-TV's Beth Germano reports

"As long as the Taliban is free to run wild somewhere, they're going to do it," he said.

The phased drawdown is likely to start with 5,000 troops recalled this summer and an additional 5,000 by winter or spring 2012.

The president is also said to be weighing a timetable for bringing home the other 20,000 troops he ordered to Afghanistan as part of his December 2009 decision to send reinforcements in hopes of reversing the Taliban's field momentum.

Cheryl Gerardi's 23-year-old son Jimmy is now deployed in Afghanistan with the Army National Guard, protecting civilians rebuilding the infrastructure against insurgents.

"It's a very hard thing to send your loved one into the danger zone," she said.

She now believes it is time to come home with progress being made.

"I think the people of Afghanistan feel safer and more secure. That's all we can give them, we can teach them the skills to stay that way," said Gerardi.

Marc Silvestri has received a purple heart and bronze star medal of valor, protecting his unit on the battlefield.

He believes the President is being swayed more politically than pragmatically.

"He redeploys 30,000 troops and what happens if the Taliban starts running wild and we start losing guys at numbers we haven't seen yet?" he wondered. "Just because Osama Bin Laden is gone the War on Terror doesn't end. The Taliban won't end, and Al Qaeda won't end."