thedrifter
10-19-05, 05:09 AM
Homecoming occurs in waves
Reunions span four hours as Marines are dispersed among flights.
By COLLEEN JENKINS, Times Staff Writer
Published October 19, 2005
TAMPA - The Marine reservists had served eight months in Iraq, and the plan was to welcome them home with boisterous festivities and a 100-piece marching band.
Then their return got pushed back, the company of 36 men dispersed onto multiple commercial flights that arrived late Monday across four hours.
By the time the third busload of men rolled into the Marine Corps Training Center on Gandy Boulevard about 10 p.m., the parking lot was dark. All the television camera lights were gone.
Lance Cpl. Michael Hein, 22, of Altamonte Springs already had held his 31/2-month-old nephew for the first time.
Cpl. Francisco Gimenez, 25, was eating pizza and celebrating with family and friends at an impromptu party at his parents' home in Lutz.
Lance Cpl. Brandon Coates, 21, had kissed and cuddled his wife, Heide, whom he married in February, just two days before he deployed.
"This is the best night ever," said Tammy Evans, Coates' mother-in-law.
Mothers cried, fathers and sons embraced, children saw heroes.
Then families rolled up their American flags and homemade posters and drove away.
By the time the night's third wave of Marines finally shuffled off the passenger van, the crowd had dwindled. The only bright lights came from a small circle of friends with sparklers.
Mothers cried again. Fathers and sons embraced again.
Then a different kind of family found themselves in the middle of the driveway. Dressed in "civilian clothes," smoking cigars and drinking Miller Lites, the Marines could have been mistaken for fraternity brothers.
But they were brothers of another sort, bound by long days of working together and short nights of sleeping alongside one another in the western Anbar province. Tied by the horrifying experience of witnessing some of their own get badly hurt in July by a roadside bomb.
The most severely injured, Cpl. Josh Cooley from Pasco County, is still recovering in a hospital 18 miles away.
His fellow 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion company members returned Oct. 8 to Camp Lejeune, N.C., to tie up postdeployment loose ends. Now they had seven days of freedom before they report back for duty.
But the men and cigar smoke lingered together Monday in the cool night air.
"Good to have you back, sir," one Marine said to another.
It's good to be home.
Ellie
Reunions span four hours as Marines are dispersed among flights.
By COLLEEN JENKINS, Times Staff Writer
Published October 19, 2005
TAMPA - The Marine reservists had served eight months in Iraq, and the plan was to welcome them home with boisterous festivities and a 100-piece marching band.
Then their return got pushed back, the company of 36 men dispersed onto multiple commercial flights that arrived late Monday across four hours.
By the time the third busload of men rolled into the Marine Corps Training Center on Gandy Boulevard about 10 p.m., the parking lot was dark. All the television camera lights were gone.
Lance Cpl. Michael Hein, 22, of Altamonte Springs already had held his 31/2-month-old nephew for the first time.
Cpl. Francisco Gimenez, 25, was eating pizza and celebrating with family and friends at an impromptu party at his parents' home in Lutz.
Lance Cpl. Brandon Coates, 21, had kissed and cuddled his wife, Heide, whom he married in February, just two days before he deployed.
"This is the best night ever," said Tammy Evans, Coates' mother-in-law.
Mothers cried, fathers and sons embraced, children saw heroes.
Then families rolled up their American flags and homemade posters and drove away.
By the time the night's third wave of Marines finally shuffled off the passenger van, the crowd had dwindled. The only bright lights came from a small circle of friends with sparklers.
Mothers cried again. Fathers and sons embraced again.
Then a different kind of family found themselves in the middle of the driveway. Dressed in "civilian clothes," smoking cigars and drinking Miller Lites, the Marines could have been mistaken for fraternity brothers.
But they were brothers of another sort, bound by long days of working together and short nights of sleeping alongside one another in the western Anbar province. Tied by the horrifying experience of witnessing some of their own get badly hurt in July by a roadside bomb.
The most severely injured, Cpl. Josh Cooley from Pasco County, is still recovering in a hospital 18 miles away.
His fellow 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion company members returned Oct. 8 to Camp Lejeune, N.C., to tie up postdeployment loose ends. Now they had seven days of freedom before they report back for duty.
But the men and cigar smoke lingered together Monday in the cool night air.
"Good to have you back, sir," one Marine said to another.
It's good to be home.
Ellie