Bermudian soldier Sgt. Jason DiGiacomo has completed his tour of duty in Iraq, and is safe at Fort Still in Oklahoma.

“The power of prayer goes a long way,” his father, retired US Army Reserves Maj. Bob DiGiacomo told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

Even strangers have been stopping the DiGiacomos on the street to ask how their son is faring in the war-torn country, he said. “We are very, very grateful to all those who have been busy praying.”

Sgt. DiGiacomo was first stationed in Iraq almost one year ago.

He spent the entire time in the country save for one brief vacation he was able to take to visit his parents in Bermuda in November.

At the time, he told The Royal Gazette, “I want people to know. We're getting attacked every day. Some of the stuff I've experienced out there, it's all stuff you take for granted back here.”

Yesterday Mr. DiGiacomo said his son seemed “in good spirits” after reaching Oklahoma last Sunday.

The conflict in Iraq, however, still seems far from over.

“He said it's not quiet over there ... The press are definitely not telling everything.”

And while he and wife Margaret DiGiacomo, a teacher at MSA, feel as though a weight has been lifted, Mr. DiGiacomo added: “He's still subject to deployment ... We don't know what's on the cards.”

For now it looks as though Sgt. DiGiacomo will be returning to the desert soon - but this time to California, not Iraq.

His unit will soon be deployed to the National Training Centre there for desert training, his father said.