thedrifter
10-27-06, 04:17 PM
Marines return to a heroes' welcome in Topsham
Darcie_Moore@TimesRecord.Com
10/27/2006
TOPSHAM - They came and they waited, hanging signs and stocking up on little flags, until the bus filled with Marines was only 15 miles away ... and then at the exit ... and the excitement hit the stomach with the rush to get to nearest the door.
Was it the cold, or the anticipation or the pure joy that made the fingers tremble?
Finally, the big black bus filled with the local men who make up Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 25th Marines rolled down the street as people screamed and cheered and motorcycles revved. The doors opened and men in desert fatigues and caps began filing out.
To a heroes' welcome raucously rolled out by more than 250 people at the Marines Reserve Center on the Topsham Annex, 56 Marine Corps reservists stepped off a large charter bus Thursday morning after seven months in Iraq.
After returning from Iraq to California - where they were debriefed about the seven-month mission in Fallujah - the returning soldiers were escorted to their base by state police, Topsham police and the Topsham Fire Department. Mt. Ararat Middle School students were dismissed from school to help welcome the Marines home. They were joined by local, county and state officials, including Gov. John Baldacci.
Some men in the back shouted the name "Cody" as Marines continued to step off the bus and out into the cold fall weather - a change from the temperatures they left in Fallujah and California.
That call was for Lance Cpl. Cody Baker of Topsham, who was greeted by his mother, his fiancée, other family members and friends, according to his mother, Linda Baker.
Baker, a 2002 graduate of Mt. Ararat High School who aspires to be a firefighter, was also greeted by members of the local fire and police departments.
His fiancée, Mindy Phillipon, said she's ready to start planning their wedding now. Before the bus arrived, she said, "I finally get to take him home. It doesn't seem like it's finally happening, I've been waiting so long."
Baker surprised her by asking her to marry him when she visited him in California in February during a week of leave from his counter-insurgency training before he deployed to Iraq in March. You get used to the people around you and normalcy, she said, and having a loved one away for months at a time makes you realize how much they mean to you.
The couple have dated since they were juniors in high school. Minutes before the bus arrived, all she could say was, "I'm so excited."
Baker, a young man with a deep voice and laughter in his eyes, described the way he believes most soldiers feel about coming back from a war zone -it's just good to be home and hard to put in words what he is feeling.
"It's kind of surreal; we thought about it so long," he said.
He enjoyed the escort and said the signs his family and friends had hung along his arrival route welcoming him and his unit home were "awesome."
Baker said so it's good to see the community come out and support the unit, which is made up of men from many Maine towns. Pointing over his shoulder, the flag-painted limousine was pretty cool too, he added with a smile.
Fighting back tears of joy, Baker's mother immediately slipped into nurturing mode.
"You look thin," she noted, asking him how much he weighed. He could only tell her how much he weighs with his pack on - 200 pounds, and admitted he's lost a lot of weight. But his mom was glad to see he hadn't lost his sense of humor. Baker said he has plenty of stories to tell about his experiences, and that includes many funny ones as well the grim tales of life in war-torn Fallujah.
His immediate plans are simple. After seven months of military food, tonight it's beer and pizza and just "chilling" on the menu, Baker said. Then, his mom will make him lasagna.
"Thank God for bringing my son home safe and sound," Linda Baker said as she stood and watched her son be encircled by his loved ones. "He did have a special guardian angel, that was my one comfort."
Of the returning Marine reservist, she said, "They really have to know from the turnout how proud we are and thankful for what they do."
Counting at least 40 people at the welcoming party Thursday to greet her son, Linda Baker said, "I was totally overwhelmed to see so many family, friends, neighbors, and students who knew me but never met Cody, just there to honor the men."
Referring to the saying that you can tell a lot about a man by the way he treats his mother, "I think you can tell an awful lot about a community by the way it treats it troops - its true heroes, and I'm just honored, truly honored, to be part of this community, and very thankful and grateful."
Baker, a teacher at Mt. Ararat High School, said she had to take another day off from work today, she was so filled with emotions. "I feel complete now. I got my hands on (my son), I saw him for myself and I know he's OK. I know my family is complete."
Alex Cornell du Houx, a senior at Bowdoin College when called to duty, said he was happy to be back in Maine. Talking in early January about the training the men would undertake in California before going to Fallujah, he had said, "That seems so long ago from now after putting it into action."
Asked Thursday about how the reality compared with the expectations, "You never know exactly what to expect," he said. "But we adapted pretty quickly to the environment."
The unit had a variety of jobs that kept everyone busy, from convoys, guard duty, patrolling, to "hitting" houses. The men conducted operations in and around the city, ranging from humanitarian relief to uncovering weapons caches and thwarting the insurgency.
Now, however, Cornell du Houx just take some time to relax.
"I'll be back to Bowdoin at some point," he said.
A leader of the Maine College Democrats before his deployment, Cornell du Houx said he plans to catch up now on what's going on in the country. "You get pretty separated from the world," he said. "It's really great to be back in Maine."
"I'm just thrilled that they all made it back safe and sound," said Cornell Du Houx's mom, Ramona du Houx. "I'm proud of them all."
Though the men spoke of injuries suffered by some of the Topsham-based unit members, who were in constant danger while in Iraq, Cornell Du Houx said the fact that they all made it home is a testament to the skill and proficiency of the Marine Corps.
Baker's 3-year-old nephew, Bryce LaFrance, asked if his uncle was getting on the bus again before it pulled away empty, and the adults relished in telling him, "No, he's here to stay."
Ellie
Darcie_Moore@TimesRecord.Com
10/27/2006
TOPSHAM - They came and they waited, hanging signs and stocking up on little flags, until the bus filled with Marines was only 15 miles away ... and then at the exit ... and the excitement hit the stomach with the rush to get to nearest the door.
Was it the cold, or the anticipation or the pure joy that made the fingers tremble?
Finally, the big black bus filled with the local men who make up Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 25th Marines rolled down the street as people screamed and cheered and motorcycles revved. The doors opened and men in desert fatigues and caps began filing out.
To a heroes' welcome raucously rolled out by more than 250 people at the Marines Reserve Center on the Topsham Annex, 56 Marine Corps reservists stepped off a large charter bus Thursday morning after seven months in Iraq.
After returning from Iraq to California - where they were debriefed about the seven-month mission in Fallujah - the returning soldiers were escorted to their base by state police, Topsham police and the Topsham Fire Department. Mt. Ararat Middle School students were dismissed from school to help welcome the Marines home. They were joined by local, county and state officials, including Gov. John Baldacci.
Some men in the back shouted the name "Cody" as Marines continued to step off the bus and out into the cold fall weather - a change from the temperatures they left in Fallujah and California.
That call was for Lance Cpl. Cody Baker of Topsham, who was greeted by his mother, his fiancée, other family members and friends, according to his mother, Linda Baker.
Baker, a 2002 graduate of Mt. Ararat High School who aspires to be a firefighter, was also greeted by members of the local fire and police departments.
His fiancée, Mindy Phillipon, said she's ready to start planning their wedding now. Before the bus arrived, she said, "I finally get to take him home. It doesn't seem like it's finally happening, I've been waiting so long."
Baker surprised her by asking her to marry him when she visited him in California in February during a week of leave from his counter-insurgency training before he deployed to Iraq in March. You get used to the people around you and normalcy, she said, and having a loved one away for months at a time makes you realize how much they mean to you.
The couple have dated since they were juniors in high school. Minutes before the bus arrived, all she could say was, "I'm so excited."
Baker, a young man with a deep voice and laughter in his eyes, described the way he believes most soldiers feel about coming back from a war zone -it's just good to be home and hard to put in words what he is feeling.
"It's kind of surreal; we thought about it so long," he said.
He enjoyed the escort and said the signs his family and friends had hung along his arrival route welcoming him and his unit home were "awesome."
Baker said so it's good to see the community come out and support the unit, which is made up of men from many Maine towns. Pointing over his shoulder, the flag-painted limousine was pretty cool too, he added with a smile.
Fighting back tears of joy, Baker's mother immediately slipped into nurturing mode.
"You look thin," she noted, asking him how much he weighed. He could only tell her how much he weighs with his pack on - 200 pounds, and admitted he's lost a lot of weight. But his mom was glad to see he hadn't lost his sense of humor. Baker said he has plenty of stories to tell about his experiences, and that includes many funny ones as well the grim tales of life in war-torn Fallujah.
His immediate plans are simple. After seven months of military food, tonight it's beer and pizza and just "chilling" on the menu, Baker said. Then, his mom will make him lasagna.
"Thank God for bringing my son home safe and sound," Linda Baker said as she stood and watched her son be encircled by his loved ones. "He did have a special guardian angel, that was my one comfort."
Of the returning Marine reservist, she said, "They really have to know from the turnout how proud we are and thankful for what they do."
Counting at least 40 people at the welcoming party Thursday to greet her son, Linda Baker said, "I was totally overwhelmed to see so many family, friends, neighbors, and students who knew me but never met Cody, just there to honor the men."
Referring to the saying that you can tell a lot about a man by the way he treats his mother, "I think you can tell an awful lot about a community by the way it treats it troops - its true heroes, and I'm just honored, truly honored, to be part of this community, and very thankful and grateful."
Baker, a teacher at Mt. Ararat High School, said she had to take another day off from work today, she was so filled with emotions. "I feel complete now. I got my hands on (my son), I saw him for myself and I know he's OK. I know my family is complete."
Alex Cornell du Houx, a senior at Bowdoin College when called to duty, said he was happy to be back in Maine. Talking in early January about the training the men would undertake in California before going to Fallujah, he had said, "That seems so long ago from now after putting it into action."
Asked Thursday about how the reality compared with the expectations, "You never know exactly what to expect," he said. "But we adapted pretty quickly to the environment."
The unit had a variety of jobs that kept everyone busy, from convoys, guard duty, patrolling, to "hitting" houses. The men conducted operations in and around the city, ranging from humanitarian relief to uncovering weapons caches and thwarting the insurgency.
Now, however, Cornell du Houx just take some time to relax.
"I'll be back to Bowdoin at some point," he said.
A leader of the Maine College Democrats before his deployment, Cornell du Houx said he plans to catch up now on what's going on in the country. "You get pretty separated from the world," he said. "It's really great to be back in Maine."
"I'm just thrilled that they all made it back safe and sound," said Cornell Du Houx's mom, Ramona du Houx. "I'm proud of them all."
Though the men spoke of injuries suffered by some of the Topsham-based unit members, who were in constant danger while in Iraq, Cornell Du Houx said the fact that they all made it home is a testament to the skill and proficiency of the Marine Corps.
Baker's 3-year-old nephew, Bryce LaFrance, asked if his uncle was getting on the bus again before it pulled away empty, and the adults relished in telling him, "No, he's here to stay."
Ellie