3/5 Marine "Dark Horse" Coming Home

I've always liked this song...I don't think it could have been put to use any better.



H/T: Brat

4-25 Redeployment Ceremony

Welcome Home Brothers.

Redeploying Troops Get Holiday Homecoming

Troops returning from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan get a hearty holiday homecoming as they arrive at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. DoD photo by Donna Miles


A well-wisher at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport shows her appreciation to troops returning home from Middle East deployments on Dec. 23, 2009, just in time for the holidays. DoD photo by Donna Miles



Santa Claus joins a throng of well-wishers at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport as they greet troops returning home from Middle East deployments on Dec. 23, 2009, just in time for the holidays. DoD photo by Donna Miles

Hundreds of well-wishers clamber to shake hands with and offer goodies to troops returning home from the Middle East via Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Dec. 23, 2009, just in time for the holidays. DoD photo by Donna Miles

Holiday spirit and patriotism were both on full display at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Dec. 23, 2009, as hundreds of well-wishers gathered to welcome troops returning home from deployments just in time for the holidays. DoD photo by Donna Miles

Etched in Stone

U.S. Army Lt. Col. James Carter touches an end-of-tour memorial plaque with the names of 94 fallen Soldiers following a dedication ceremony at the chapel on Camp Liberty, Feb. 3, 2009. Master Sgt. Billy Arnold, the noncommissioned officer in charge, stands next to him. These 94 Soldiers gave their lives in the service of their nation and to the people of Iraq. Carter is the chaplain for the 4th Infantry Division and Multi-National Division - Baghdad. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Douglas York.

Farewell

Iraqi Brig. Gen. Ali Ibraheem Dabown, commander of the 8th National Police Brigade, 2nd NP Division, says farewell to Col. John Hort, commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Div., during a transition ceremony Feb. 14 at Forward Operating Base Loyalty. The 3rd Bde., 4th Inf. Div., completed a 15-month tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Photo by Staff Sgt. James Selesnick.

A Soldier, His Dog and a Long recovery

Long Island Girl sends me notice of this amazing story about a Soldier and his dog reunited after being seperated by a war and nearly 4000 miles.

Soldier's source of hope
John Shaubach, an Alaskan veteran struggling with PTSD, was reunited with a long-lost dog.
By JEFF FRANTZ Daily Record/Sunday News
Article Launched: 10/12/2008 01:31:37 AM EDT

On Friday, Sarha Shaubach made the hour-long drive from her Wasilla, Alaska, home to the Anchorage airport by herself.

The winding road between the mountains carries too strong a reminder of convoys through Afghanistan for her husband, John Shaubach, a veteran suffering from a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder.

But Sarha brought her husband's hunting jacket with her.

When she reached the kennel crate, Sarha put the jacket against the door. The bone-thin black lab inside sniffed the jacket and jumped.

Zeus knew he was almost home.

~~~

Three weeks ago, Rick Saunders was parked on the side of the road in Southern Pines, N.C., when a black Lab trotted over.

He had a mangy coat, Saunders said in a telephone interview, and his ribs stuck out. It was clear he had been living outdoors for quite a long time. After failing to find the dog's owner, Saunders took it to the vet.

That's how Saunders learned a previous owner had implanted a chip in the dog's neck. The veterinarian didn't have a current address or phone number for that owner, John Shaubach.

After a Google search, Saunders found a news story about John's service and difficulties. Southern Pines is near Ft. Bragg, home of the 82nd Airborne, Saunders thought. After a few phone calls, the Shaubachs had a message waiting for them.

Grab some tissues and Read the Rest...

Hurry Home JP Your Girls Need You!

JP of Milblogging.com makes no bones about his fascination with the Olsen twins. Well it appears that they are also big fans of his....and this deployment is really hitting them hard.

Its a good thing JP and the rest of Bad Voodoo Platoon are coming home soon, I don't think MaryKate or Ashley can take much more of this!

Do we need any more proof?

Welcome Home!

Alpha Company 1st Battalion 175th Infantry Regiment (MD National Guard) returned home yesterday from their second tour in Iraq, once again with no casualties!

By Justin M. Palk News-Post Staff
Company A of the 1st Battalion of the Maryland National Guard's 175th Infantry Regiment is home from Iraq.

Friends and family greeted the soldiers with cheers, tears and waving flags as they arrived at Harry Grove Stadium on Monday afternoon.

Company A, along with the battalion's four other companies, deployed to Iraq last year on a force protection mission.

The soldiers have been at Fort Dix, N.J., since last week.

Read More...

Via the Frederick News Post:

VIDEO: Footage from Company A's return
SOUND SLIDE: Sights & sounds from their return

Welcome back men, and another job well done.

Support And How it Affects the Troops

Blackfive has a great letter sent by a Command Sergeant Major who is returning home with his men who wantd to say thank you for supporting him and him troopers for without the support he received he and his troopers would not ahve been able to do the job they did. He also lets us all know about some changes that he has seen in Iraq.

An excerpt:

Family and Friends,

In less than 23 hours my tenure here in Iraq will come to a close. In less than a day I, and many others, shall board a transport and head to Kuwait and then ultimately back home to all of you.

To be honest it's almost surreal, all we've known for the last 15 months is this place called Iraq. We've experienced so many highs and so many lows. We've endured (regardless of locale) days on end of mortar and rocket fire. Countless days of "Big Voice" wailing "Incoming, Incoming, Incoming". Running for cover, waiting out the impacts, holding one's breath; listening for the sirens or yells of Medic. We've endured the almost constant thunder of IEDs, RPGs, Car and truck bombs, the staccato of small arms fire. If someone had asked me in June or July if there was any hope of turning this thing around I don't know what I'd have told them.

For those that traversed the roads, trails and fields of Iraq there was the constant threat of IEDs, RPGs, suicide bombers, small arms fire, land mines, Houses rigged to explode and all the indigenous people looking for a way to escape the violence, the sectarian murders, the foreign fighters, and the ever present criminal element.

Something happened in June, I (and many others) don't know what it was, cannot quite put our finger on it, but something changed. Good people in Iraq started to stand-up, good people began to join with us. The back of Al Qaida began to break. We achieved a tipping point of sorts, the Iraqi Security forces, long berated for a lack of ability began to take a pre-emptive role in security operations. Good people starting coming forward and telling coalition forces where the bad guys and their tools of war were hidden. We began to roll-up mid and high level AQI and Special Groups leadership, and the more we did, the more the good people of Iraq came forward with even more information.

Go read the rest you won't be dissapointed!

Welcoming Home a Hero!

Saturday was an awesome, awesome day!!!! A local friend of mine (I'll call her Princess, it's part of her screen name on a local message board) invited me to go with her and her family to the Atlanta airport to pick up their son (we'll call him...John. Since that's his name & all, haha) who was FINALLY coming home from The Sandbox!!!!!! :-) Our family had adopted John while he was overseas... he was a recipient of at least one, if not two, of the holiday card drives y'all helped make such a success. :) Needless to say, I was deeply touched that Princess would invite me to be part of such a special family moment.... and darn right, I jumped at the chance to be there! ;-) Few things are cooler than meeting one of your very own adopted Heroes that you've written to and sent stuff to and worried over and prayed over and cried over and written to more (etc) for at least a year!!! :-) So, Princess and I were talking (via email), and we were both all excited about The Imminent HomeComing.... and I said, "Hmmm.... I wonder if we could sweet-talk some Patriot Guard Riders into showing up???" Princess absolutely LOVED that idea, and (of course) so did I!!! So I sent some emails, did some asking, and thank God, John's homecoming became an official PGR "mission!" Normally, our primary mission is honoring those who have fallen and shielding the families from Unwanted Guests (protesters) at their loved one's funeral. However, whenever possible, we also attend "welcome home" events and "send-off" (deployment) events and other activities honoring those who serve or who have served. This was one of those happy, feel-good missions that we all really needed! :) So, for the better part of a week, the PGR ride captains worked out the logistical details, while I helped Princess get stuff for the suprise welcome home party she was having... decorations and such. :)
Finally, the big day was here!!!! The family decorated their van:



And off we went to the airport. We got caught in horrible traffic and feared we'd be late. His plane was due to land at 2:00 p.m. We arrived at Hartsfield at about... 1:50 or so, haha! Just in time!!!! Once we found where we were supposed to be (if you've never been to the Atlanta airport...it's HUGE!!!!!!!!!), I ran over to check the arrivals:



And yep, his plane had landed!!!!! Yay!!! What followed were twenty of the LONGEST minutes of my entire life... and I'm sure it seemed even longer than an eternity to his family!!!!! Finally.... HE WAS HERE!!!! :)



Yes, I was snapping pics like crazy... I knew they were too busy hugging the stuffing out of him (as it should be!) to worry about capturing these irreplaceable Kodak Moments.... and I wanted it all preserved for them..... well, till it was MY turn to hug the stuffin' out of him, haha!

Anyway, the first of many surprises for him was me being there (I know - NOT much of a surprise at all, haha! Luckily for him, the surprises got MUCH cooler as the day went on!). While we walked from the baggage claim area to the parking deck, I hung back a discrete distance and make a quiet phone call to the PGR ride captain, who, together with another one of the ride captains, was waiting in the wings for us to emerge from the parking garage. Sure enough, as we rolled out of the garage, two patriot guards appeared before us... one on a red motorcycle, one on a green. I'm sure they didn't PLAN on being so seasonally appropriate, but hey, Princess & I thought it was pretty cool it worked out that way! ;)



John thought this was really neat, of course. :) I told him, "Now, you didn't think you could just COME HOME and not get SOME kind of welcome, did you?!" heh heh heh >:-) Well, he thought that was all there was - just those two...

UNTIL.... about 11 miles from our ultimate destination, we pulled into a BP gas station, where about 20 more Patriot Guards were waiting for us!!!! :) When we pulled in, they all started clapping and cheering and hootin' & hollerin' & in general, giving him a real Hero's welcome! :) The LOOK on his face was absolutely PRICELESS! check this picture out! :) Yep...every bit of the planning and plotting was SO worth it! :)



Ah, but the surprises weren't over just yet!!! There was more to come! We left the BP station, with about 4 PGRs in front of our vehicle, and 20 or so behind, with American Flags flying. At this point, John (probably) still thinks he's just going home...but nope... Princess had rented a church gym to have a family gathering/welcome home party for him!!!! When we got to the church, we all took lots of pics and spent time talking, etc... oh yeah, and taking lots of pics:







And one of my favorite favorites: Me, John, and Princess:



While all the picture takin' & socializin' was going on, a scrapbook of "Welcome Home!" messages was being passed around for people to sign. See, for the Honor Missions we do for fallen soldiers, we make "condolence books," where all the condolence messages posted on the Patriot Guard forum are put together into a book and signed by the PGRs in attendance at the services. I thought it would be a cool idea to do something like that for the welcome home event, too... so everyone posted a bunch of welcome home messages and I put them into a simple scrapbook for folks to sign. Later on, I gave it to him:



All in all, everything went great... he seemed really blown away by the welcome home and all the support!!! :) It just seemed to me that he was really loving every minute of it... and that made me pretty darn happy!

I told him that 30 years from now, he'll be telling his grandkids about his return from the war, how he was welcomed home.... which will be a far, far different story than many of the Patriot Guard Riders had to share with THEIR grandkids, when they came home from Another War in a jungle far away...when they came back to either silence or insults or indifference or out-right hatred. NEVER AGAIN. EVER!

Judging by the almost constant, ear-to-ear grin on his face the whole day, I'd have to say....
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!! Thank you, PGR!!! :)




What a way to start Thanksgiving week!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Kat

Welcome Home Marines

Dam Support Unit 3 located in Frederick Maryland returned home from Iraq yesterday:

By Alison Walker-Baird News-Post Staff

FREDERICK — Families and friends of local Marines who spent almost six months in Iraq took a collective sigh of relief as three coach buses rounded the corner and pulled into the unit's Frederick reserve center just after noon Tuesday.

"I didn't realize I'd been holding my breath all these months," said Barbara Bent of Eldersburg, after reuniting with her son, Staff Sgt. Gene Danfelt of Hagerstown.

Dam Security Unit-3, a 110-member reserve unit that deployed to Iraq in October,
arrived in North Carolina on Friday night and left Camp Lejeune early Tuesday morning, bound for Frederick.

The Marines reunited with friends and family at the Pfc. Flair U.S. Army Reserve Center after their buses wound through downtown Frederick.

Pockets of well-wishers gathered on Rosemont Avenue and Market Street, holding signs and American flags during the 80-degree day capped by a clear blue sky. Rows of tiny American flags flanked the reserve center's gate.

The horn of a police escort heralded the unit's arrival, family and friends cheering, clapping, with cameras flashing and video cameras rolling as buses carrying the Marines pulled up.

Read the Rest...

View Video of their Return...

View Slideshow of their Return...

Welcome Home A Hero Program

On Monday I posted a video about Bert Brady and his participation in the Welcome Home a Hero Program out of Dallas Fort Worth Airport.

I want to thank everyone for their interest in welcoming home our heroes. Unfortunately, programs like this are few and far between. Bangor, Maine currently runs an operation for returning troops as their deployments end and National Guard units as well as Regular Army and Marine units tend to organize their own welcome home locally and through their FRG.

As for R&R flights (Mid-deployment leave) there are only two cities that the R&R flights fly in to, Atlanta and Dallas.

Dallas Fort Worth is the only city in the nation that has the meet and greet. All of Atlanta's operation is in the secure area so they are not able to have the public there to greet the troops.

So that doesn't mean we should be discouraged: you can still contact your local bases and airports to see about organizing welcome home groups when needed and if appropriate. Baltimore Washington International just recently joined the America Supports You program through the DoD and I'm sure that other airports will be also.

Keep looking for these progams near you and I'll continue to provide information on them as I obtain it.

Thank you!

If anyone out there has anymore infor please email it to me here and I'll get it out to everyone I can.

(Ed Note: This post is stuck at the top til 3/31/2007. New posts come in below.)

Welcome Home A Hero Program

Meet Bert Brady, a true America Hero, who spends 300 days a year welcoming home troops that had been deployed in the GWOT.



"They are our heroes...we are not going to forget the soldier's of today."

Back in Action

The Thunder Run is finally back in action after being away pretty much for the last 5 days, of course 5 days away from any PC also means 5 days of work waiting to be done and well, work pays the bills not blogging, not yet at least.

So today up next is the Web Reconnaissance for 01/03/2007 and a few posts of good news from the front. As the week progresses more posts and more features will be added so that by next week The Thunder Run will not only be back to the standard it was before the switch and vacation but better.

This will stay at top all day, new posts come in below.

Welcome Jules Crittendon readers and to all my regular viewers thanks for stopping by while I was gone.