thedrifter
01-27-08, 07:39 AM
Celebrating service and a safe return
Limo ride, escort, surprise reception celebrate Marine's homecoming
January 27, 2008
By KATHY CICHON Staff writer
With lights flashing and a blast or two of the horns, Naperville police and fire vehicles led the white limo to the steps of Judd Kendall VFW Post 3873 Friday evening. As Lance Cpl. Tony Mihalo emerged, cameras flashed and the crowd cheered.
Mihalo, who just completed his second tour of duty in Iraq with the U.S. Marines, was home.
"Overwhelmed. Shocked and bewildered," Mihalo said of his surprise reception. "As great as this is - to come home to a welcome like this - knowing we have men and women in Iraq ... I don't want this all on me coming home while we still have men and women in Iraq doing their job."
But for Mihalo's family and friends, the evening was about him - celebrating his service and his safe return to Naperville.
"For nine months it was 24 hours of worrying," said Megan Allen, his girlfriend of four and a half years. "And to have him back, not only in the same country, but in the vicinity, it's like a dream come true."
More than 100 people gathered at the VFW to greet 22-year-old Mihalo, who was also met by friends, family and the USO at Midway Airport when his flight from California arrived earlier that afternoon.
"Even people at the airport, who didn't even know him," said his mother, Debbie Wolfe. "People giving him cards and money and saying thanks. 'We want to thank you. Here, buy a drink. Buy dinner. Have dinner on us.'"
Mayor George Pradel, who happened to be coming home on a different flight into Midway, invited Mihalo to ride back to Naperville in his limousine.
The timing of the celebration is appropriate, said Bill Wolfe, Mihalo's stepfather. That's because he's home and not going to be redeployed. Mihalo will spend one month in Naperville before returning to California. He'll spend the final seven months of his enlistment there before returning home for good and enrolling in college.
"We're tremendously proud of him," Bill Wolfe said. "I'm very glad we're in a nation where we can still find the people like him that we have to have."
A 2004 graduate of Naperville North High School, Mihalo enlisted in the Marines his senior year. It came as no surprise to his family. After all, growing up, he loved watching military movies and always went to Civil War Days at Naper Settlement, said his brother, Mike Mihalo.
"This is what he talked about," Mike Mihalo said. "This is what he dreamed about."
In 2005 he left for his first tour in Iraq. Stationed in Ramadi, he was shot three separate times, family members said, and he received three Purple Hearts. Mihalo downplayed the incidents, saying he was only "slightly injured." In 2007 he left for his second tour. He spent the first seven months in Ramadi, and he volunteered to stay an additional two months to assist the 221 MITT team near Baghdad. During that time he and other U.S. troops served as advisers and helped train the Iraqi army.
"It just seemed like something that was right up my alley," Mihalo said.
Debbie Wolfe said he volunteered so the guys in his battalion who had children could go home to see them for the holidays. Learning her son was extending his tour was difficult at first, but she knew it was what he wanted to do.
"There's a moment when you go through your head where you don't understand it," she said. "But if you know Tony, he loves the action. He wanted to do more."
Support from friends, the VFW and Operation Support Our Troops helped Mihalo's loved ones while he was gone. It was four months before he could call home.
"The first four months, the only way I could communicate with him was by packing a box," Debbie Wolfe said.
Weekly e-mails - "twice a week if you're lucky," Allen said - helped him stay in touch with family.
But there's nothing like getting to talk to them in person, Mihalo said.
"Just to have that personal face-to-face interaction is not something a phone or computer can imitate," Mihalo said.
Now it's time to "relax. Take it easy. Try to catch up on everything I've missed," he said. He wants to visit BD's Mongolian Barbecue. Allen said they'll likely visit downtown Naperville, and maybe catch a Bulls game.
"Things we take for granted every day - going to the movies, going to dinner," she said.
Contact Kathy Cichon at kcichon@scn1.com or 630-416-5114.
Ellie
Limo ride, escort, surprise reception celebrate Marine's homecoming
January 27, 2008
By KATHY CICHON Staff writer
With lights flashing and a blast or two of the horns, Naperville police and fire vehicles led the white limo to the steps of Judd Kendall VFW Post 3873 Friday evening. As Lance Cpl. Tony Mihalo emerged, cameras flashed and the crowd cheered.
Mihalo, who just completed his second tour of duty in Iraq with the U.S. Marines, was home.
"Overwhelmed. Shocked and bewildered," Mihalo said of his surprise reception. "As great as this is - to come home to a welcome like this - knowing we have men and women in Iraq ... I don't want this all on me coming home while we still have men and women in Iraq doing their job."
But for Mihalo's family and friends, the evening was about him - celebrating his service and his safe return to Naperville.
"For nine months it was 24 hours of worrying," said Megan Allen, his girlfriend of four and a half years. "And to have him back, not only in the same country, but in the vicinity, it's like a dream come true."
More than 100 people gathered at the VFW to greet 22-year-old Mihalo, who was also met by friends, family and the USO at Midway Airport when his flight from California arrived earlier that afternoon.
"Even people at the airport, who didn't even know him," said his mother, Debbie Wolfe. "People giving him cards and money and saying thanks. 'We want to thank you. Here, buy a drink. Buy dinner. Have dinner on us.'"
Mayor George Pradel, who happened to be coming home on a different flight into Midway, invited Mihalo to ride back to Naperville in his limousine.
The timing of the celebration is appropriate, said Bill Wolfe, Mihalo's stepfather. That's because he's home and not going to be redeployed. Mihalo will spend one month in Naperville before returning to California. He'll spend the final seven months of his enlistment there before returning home for good and enrolling in college.
"We're tremendously proud of him," Bill Wolfe said. "I'm very glad we're in a nation where we can still find the people like him that we have to have."
A 2004 graduate of Naperville North High School, Mihalo enlisted in the Marines his senior year. It came as no surprise to his family. After all, growing up, he loved watching military movies and always went to Civil War Days at Naper Settlement, said his brother, Mike Mihalo.
"This is what he talked about," Mike Mihalo said. "This is what he dreamed about."
In 2005 he left for his first tour in Iraq. Stationed in Ramadi, he was shot three separate times, family members said, and he received three Purple Hearts. Mihalo downplayed the incidents, saying he was only "slightly injured." In 2007 he left for his second tour. He spent the first seven months in Ramadi, and he volunteered to stay an additional two months to assist the 221 MITT team near Baghdad. During that time he and other U.S. troops served as advisers and helped train the Iraqi army.
"It just seemed like something that was right up my alley," Mihalo said.
Debbie Wolfe said he volunteered so the guys in his battalion who had children could go home to see them for the holidays. Learning her son was extending his tour was difficult at first, but she knew it was what he wanted to do.
"There's a moment when you go through your head where you don't understand it," she said. "But if you know Tony, he loves the action. He wanted to do more."
Support from friends, the VFW and Operation Support Our Troops helped Mihalo's loved ones while he was gone. It was four months before he could call home.
"The first four months, the only way I could communicate with him was by packing a box," Debbie Wolfe said.
Weekly e-mails - "twice a week if you're lucky," Allen said - helped him stay in touch with family.
But there's nothing like getting to talk to them in person, Mihalo said.
"Just to have that personal face-to-face interaction is not something a phone or computer can imitate," Mihalo said.
Now it's time to "relax. Take it easy. Try to catch up on everything I've missed," he said. He wants to visit BD's Mongolian Barbecue. Allen said they'll likely visit downtown Naperville, and maybe catch a Bulls game.
"Things we take for granted every day - going to the movies, going to dinner," she said.
Contact Kathy Cichon at kcichon@scn1.com or 630-416-5114.
Ellie