thedrifter
12-21-07, 02:32 AM
Welcome Home Cpl. Cruz
The Brownsville Herald -
Christmas came early for little Zaley Cruz, a Brownsville toddler with a tall order for Santa.
Zaley’s present arrived Thursday, wrapped in khaki fatigues instead of Christmas paper. Instead of the North Pole, this gift came from Iraq. Instead of a sled, it was delivered via Continental Airlines Express Jet.
“Daddy,” Zaley said when she spotted her father, U.S. Marine Cpl. Jose Luis Cruz pass through the gate at the Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport.
Cruz, 21, completed an eight-month tour of duty in Iraq and arrived home to a welcome he didn’t expect. Nearly speechless at the sight of the group gathered here Thursday, “I’m surprised,” is all Cruz could say.
Family members and area veterans applauded, offered hugs and pats on the back.
Cruz is one of Cameron County’s first Marines to be received by the group organized by Vietnam War veterans Celestino Martinez and Salvador Salinas about two months ago.
In a previous interview, the two men recalled their own lackluster homecomings from the unpopular war and felt compelled to do something for military personnel returning from the battlefield.
Debbie McIver has joined the welcome home effort. With a son-in-law serving his third tour of duty in Iraq, she felt it was important to be there for Cpl. Cruz, whom she hadn’t met until Thursday.
Her son-in-law is “going to be a lifer in the Army,” McIver said, “and I just wanted to show support to whoever I can.”
Elizabeth Cruz, Cpl. Cruz’s wife, tried to keep the welcome a surprise. She asked him to wear his uniform but didn’t tell him why. In the anxious minutes before his plane touched down, she imagined his surprise.
“He just thinks I’m going to be here with the baby and my grandma,” she said. “He’s going to freak out and say, ‘Oh my God, who are all these people?’”
Cpl. Cruz has been in Iraq since March. The holiday leave was unexpected, announced just a couple of weeks ago, his brother Servando said.
That was just enough time for the corporal’s mother, Maria Guadalupe Cruz, to plan a holiday feast for her son.
When he made it through the crowd, she hugged him tight.
“I am happy and excited,” she said tearfully, relieved to see her son who will have homemade flour tortillas and tamales for Christmas.
Ellie
The Brownsville Herald -
Christmas came early for little Zaley Cruz, a Brownsville toddler with a tall order for Santa.
Zaley’s present arrived Thursday, wrapped in khaki fatigues instead of Christmas paper. Instead of the North Pole, this gift came from Iraq. Instead of a sled, it was delivered via Continental Airlines Express Jet.
“Daddy,” Zaley said when she spotted her father, U.S. Marine Cpl. Jose Luis Cruz pass through the gate at the Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport.
Cruz, 21, completed an eight-month tour of duty in Iraq and arrived home to a welcome he didn’t expect. Nearly speechless at the sight of the group gathered here Thursday, “I’m surprised,” is all Cruz could say.
Family members and area veterans applauded, offered hugs and pats on the back.
Cruz is one of Cameron County’s first Marines to be received by the group organized by Vietnam War veterans Celestino Martinez and Salvador Salinas about two months ago.
In a previous interview, the two men recalled their own lackluster homecomings from the unpopular war and felt compelled to do something for military personnel returning from the battlefield.
Debbie McIver has joined the welcome home effort. With a son-in-law serving his third tour of duty in Iraq, she felt it was important to be there for Cpl. Cruz, whom she hadn’t met until Thursday.
Her son-in-law is “going to be a lifer in the Army,” McIver said, “and I just wanted to show support to whoever I can.”
Elizabeth Cruz, Cpl. Cruz’s wife, tried to keep the welcome a surprise. She asked him to wear his uniform but didn’t tell him why. In the anxious minutes before his plane touched down, she imagined his surprise.
“He just thinks I’m going to be here with the baby and my grandma,” she said. “He’s going to freak out and say, ‘Oh my God, who are all these people?’”
Cpl. Cruz has been in Iraq since March. The holiday leave was unexpected, announced just a couple of weeks ago, his brother Servando said.
That was just enough time for the corporal’s mother, Maria Guadalupe Cruz, to plan a holiday feast for her son.
When he made it through the crowd, she hugged him tight.
“I am happy and excited,” she said tearfully, relieved to see her son who will have homemade flour tortillas and tamales for Christmas.
Ellie