thedrifter
11-05-07, 07:11 AM
Article published Nov 5, 2007
Surprise party greets vet back from Iraq
By CODY GLENN
Staff Writer
DEERFIELD -- John "Wolfie" Fallick's younger twin brothers, Josh and Jeremy, alongside boyhood friend Sal Manno were on lookout duty Sunday afternoon behind the Rosenhayn Fire and Rescue building.
Their mission: notify the 50 or so of Fallick's closest friends and family (whose cars were parked discreetly behind the firehouse) when he arrived so they could surprise the Iraq veteran with a welcome home party after his six-month tour.
"My sister's out with him for dinner and she's going to say she forgot something here and has to pick it up," Manno explained.
They knew their plan went off without a hitch when the 20-year-old Rosenhayn native strolled to the back garage with wide eyes leading to an even wider grin.
"I had no idea," said Fallick, a Cumberland Regional High School graduate. "I was surprised, shocked, but it was great to see everyone."
Fallick returned Oct. 23 from his first Iraq tour, where he served as a Navy gunner's mate seaman aboard a 40-foot vessel on the Euphrates River as part of the elite Riverines. But his family waited to throw the party at the fire company, where he has been active since he was 16.
"It felt great to be back in the U.S.," Fallick said. "Feeling safe and seeing the people I've been waiting to see. The fresh air around here was one of the biggest things I missed."
The roughly 250 Riverines were reactivated in May 2006 for the first time since Vietnam in a joint maritime operation with the Marines. Fallick was one of 20 seamen on his boat. Ten boats like his are spread out along the Euphrates, where they patrol and perform security operations, he said.
Fallick could be redeployed at any time within the next year.
His brothers, now 17, both plan to join the Navy as well next year.
"I raised them as 'a man's got to do what a man's got to do,'" said their father, John Sr. "And they wanted to join the Navy. I'm proud of my sons. For this year, before 'Wolf' is re-deployed, he can do whatever he wants as far as I'm concerned."
Ellie
Surprise party greets vet back from Iraq
By CODY GLENN
Staff Writer
DEERFIELD -- John "Wolfie" Fallick's younger twin brothers, Josh and Jeremy, alongside boyhood friend Sal Manno were on lookout duty Sunday afternoon behind the Rosenhayn Fire and Rescue building.
Their mission: notify the 50 or so of Fallick's closest friends and family (whose cars were parked discreetly behind the firehouse) when he arrived so they could surprise the Iraq veteran with a welcome home party after his six-month tour.
"My sister's out with him for dinner and she's going to say she forgot something here and has to pick it up," Manno explained.
They knew their plan went off without a hitch when the 20-year-old Rosenhayn native strolled to the back garage with wide eyes leading to an even wider grin.
"I had no idea," said Fallick, a Cumberland Regional High School graduate. "I was surprised, shocked, but it was great to see everyone."
Fallick returned Oct. 23 from his first Iraq tour, where he served as a Navy gunner's mate seaman aboard a 40-foot vessel on the Euphrates River as part of the elite Riverines. But his family waited to throw the party at the fire company, where he has been active since he was 16.
"It felt great to be back in the U.S.," Fallick said. "Feeling safe and seeing the people I've been waiting to see. The fresh air around here was one of the biggest things I missed."
The roughly 250 Riverines were reactivated in May 2006 for the first time since Vietnam in a joint maritime operation with the Marines. Fallick was one of 20 seamen on his boat. Ten boats like his are spread out along the Euphrates, where they patrol and perform security operations, he said.
Fallick could be redeployed at any time within the next year.
His brothers, now 17, both plan to join the Navy as well next year.
"I raised them as 'a man's got to do what a man's got to do,'" said their father, John Sr. "And they wanted to join the Navy. I'm proud of my sons. For this year, before 'Wolf' is re-deployed, he can do whatever he wants as far as I'm concerned."
Ellie