Welcoming soldiers home

Soldiers Magazine, July, 2004 by Lorie Jewell

OPERATION Tribute to Freedom, a program that tracks public-recognition events that honor Soldiers fighting the war on terrorism and offers assistance to community organizers, reported that some 3,3000 Soldiers received heroes' welcomes in the last week of March.

While the Defense Department announced the extension of tours for about 18,000 Soldiers in Iraq in April--putting a temporary hold on some homecomings--many welcome-back celebrations were expected to take place as planned.

In Colorado Springs, Colo., the military and civilian communities planned a parade June 5. Of roughly 12,000 area Soldiers sent to Iraq a year earlier, about 98 percent of them had returned home, said SGM Robert Harn of the 7th Infantry Division.

At Fort Hood, Texas, the USO put on a "Welcome Home" show in April for Soldiers of the 4th Inf. Div., which includes Task Force Iron Horse, responsible for the December 2003 capture of Saddam Hussein. Among the celebrities who were expected to join in the celebration were Wayne Newton, Jessica Simpson, Drew Carey, Billy Ray Cyrus and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

Members of the Family Support Group for the 110th Maintenance Company, a Massachusetts National Guard unit, started planning their homecoming celebration in November 2003. With proceeds from several fundraisers, the group hired a caterer and disc jockey, and arranged for children's entertainment. They also put together gift bags containing items ranging from coupons for free ice cream cones to vouchers for overnight stays at a local bed and breakfast.

Residents of Bangor, Maine, greet planeloads of Soldiers coming into the international airport for brief layovers. When the community's organizers learn of incoming troops, they start making phone calls, sending some 100 greeters to the airport to offer hugs, cakes, cookies and free use of donated cell phones.

Businesses, civic groups and government leaders all have shown their support to returning troops. This year's Kentucky Derby Festival paid tribute to members of the state's National Guard, who returned in March, with Derby T-shirts and caps. In Utah, the Hilton Salt Lake City Center threw a welcome-home party for Soldiers of the Utah National Guard's 141st Military Intelligence Battalion. And a 12-square-foot cake fashioned into an American flag awaited members of the Florida National Guard's 1st Bn., 124th Inf. when they arrived home.

Such tributes do more than just make Soldiers and their families feel appreciated for their service and sacrifices, said Iowa Guard spokesman LTC Greg Hapgood.

"Especially in small towns, people really take ownership of their Soldiers," he said. "There's no way they're not going to do something for them."

While most of the homecomings have been for Soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, some were for Soldiers returning from elsewhere in the world, including Central Europe and Africa.

Some 100 Soldiers of the Minnesota National Guard's 136th Inf. were greeted by hundreds of well-wishers and a police escort upon their return from Bosnia, where they performed a wide range of duties, such as distributing school supplies and gathering up mines and other weaponry.