Saturday, March 13, 2004
We're Baaaaaaaaack...
Rolled into Fort Stewart, Georgia at about 1 AM EST last night.
A lot of our soldier's families--the ones who could make the drive up from Florida, were on hand to greet us after a short ceremony.
I was simply overwhelmed with happiness at having helped bring a company and battalion home after a year of combat in one of the toughest cities in the country--and nearly daily contact with the enemy--without a single pair of empty boots to answer for.
Our sister battalions within the 53rd Infantry Brigade--who also returned recently--each had soldiers killed in action.
Despite taking somewhere north of 50 wounded (some soldiers who could have technically qualified declined purple hearts), none in the Hurricane Battalion were killed.
Seeing hundreds of family members there--and knowing that every family in the battalion would see their son or daddy or husband again--that no one had to stay home because daddy wasn't coming back--brought it home for me like nothing else could.
If I wasn't standing in a formation, I would probably have collapsed sobbing in a corner somewhere.
A lot of our soldier's families--the ones who could make the drive up from Florida, were on hand to greet us after a short ceremony.
I was simply overwhelmed with happiness at having helped bring a company and battalion home after a year of combat in one of the toughest cities in the country--and nearly daily contact with the enemy--without a single pair of empty boots to answer for.
Our sister battalions within the 53rd Infantry Brigade--who also returned recently--each had soldiers killed in action.
Despite taking somewhere north of 50 wounded (some soldiers who could have technically qualified declined purple hearts), none in the Hurricane Battalion were killed.
Seeing hundreds of family members there--and knowing that every family in the battalion would see their son or daddy or husband again--that no one had to stay home because daddy wasn't coming back--brought it home for me like nothing else could.
If I wasn't standing in a formation, I would probably have collapsed sobbing in a corner somewhere.
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