thedrifter
06-12-03, 06:02 AM
June 11, 2003
Reserve recon unit returns
Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE — Marines were greeted by friends and family as they arrived in Albuquerque Tuesday after a nearly five month deployment to the Middle East.
The reservists with the 4th Reconnaissance Battalion’s Company D were deployed to Kuwait in February and eventually ended up in Baghdad.
A group that gathered at the Marine Reserve Center in northeast Albuquerque cheered as the buses carrying the Marines from Camp Pendleton, Calif. arrived.
Monique Harris stood on her toes and scanned the two buses searching for her boyfriend. As soon as she spotted Cpl. Mitch Williams, Harris broke through the crowd and jumped into his arms.
“I was so happy to see him that I just couldn’t wait,” Harris said, wiping away tears and kissing the grinning Marine on his cheek.
“It was great to turn the corner and see all these people waiting for us,” Williams said. “It’s great to be home.”
A few feet away, Lance Cpl. Martin Olivas, 24, scooped his two daughters into his arms.
Then he was mobbed by his wife, parents, sister and other relatives eager to welcome home the reservist from Lajada.
“I couldn’t wait, so I met him when the group got to San Diego,” said Olivas’ wife, Monica. “I always knew he’d come home, that he’d be fine, but I still needed to see him.”
Armed with signs, nine of Olivas’ relatives cheered wildly when he stepped off the bus.
The couple is expecting another child in October.
“He definitely needed to be back in time for the delivery,” Monica Olivas said. “If it looked like he wasn’t going to make it, I would go back and get him myself. It was too important to happen without him.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press
Sempers,
Roger
Reserve recon unit returns
Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE — Marines were greeted by friends and family as they arrived in Albuquerque Tuesday after a nearly five month deployment to the Middle East.
The reservists with the 4th Reconnaissance Battalion’s Company D were deployed to Kuwait in February and eventually ended up in Baghdad.
A group that gathered at the Marine Reserve Center in northeast Albuquerque cheered as the buses carrying the Marines from Camp Pendleton, Calif. arrived.
Monique Harris stood on her toes and scanned the two buses searching for her boyfriend. As soon as she spotted Cpl. Mitch Williams, Harris broke through the crowd and jumped into his arms.
“I was so happy to see him that I just couldn’t wait,” Harris said, wiping away tears and kissing the grinning Marine on his cheek.
“It was great to turn the corner and see all these people waiting for us,” Williams said. “It’s great to be home.”
A few feet away, Lance Cpl. Martin Olivas, 24, scooped his two daughters into his arms.
Then he was mobbed by his wife, parents, sister and other relatives eager to welcome home the reservist from Lajada.
“I couldn’t wait, so I met him when the group got to San Diego,” said Olivas’ wife, Monica. “I always knew he’d come home, that he’d be fine, but I still needed to see him.”
Armed with signs, nine of Olivas’ relatives cheered wildly when he stepped off the bus.
The couple is expecting another child in October.
“He definitely needed to be back in time for the delivery,” Monica Olivas said. “If it looked like he wasn’t going to make it, I would go back and get him myself. It was too important to happen without him.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press
Sempers,
Roger