thedrifter
04-10-09, 07:30 AM
Open arms for Echo Company
Marine unit due after 7-month Iraq tour of duty
Friday, April 10, 2009
BY EMILY OPILO
Of The Patriot-News
It's like Christmas at the Baker house. And Thanksgiving. And a birthday.
A lot has happened in the seven months since Lance Cpl. Ryan Baker, 21, left his Codorus Twp., York County, home for a deployment in Iraq. But his mother, Debbie Baker, has made sure he won't miss a thing.
She's prepared a special holiday room, complete with a Christmas tree, Thanksgiving apple pie and birthday cake, for his return today.
Ryan Baker is one of 138 members of Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, based in Harrisburg, who are to return tonight.
The unit deployed to Iraq in September for seven months. It will be welcomed home with a police escort on Second Street between 10:30 and 11:30 p.m. Organizers hope for a strong turnout of midstaters along the route.
For the mothers, fathers, wives, husbands and children whom the Marines left at home, the excitement surrounding their return has mounted in the last few days. The banners are hung, the yellow ribbons are tied and, in the Bakers' case, the tree is trimmed.
Now all that's left to do is wait.
Debbie Baker warned her son that she'll probably lose it when she sees him again. This is Ryan Baker's first deployment, and the longest she's ever been without him.
"I told him, 'I don't care if you're a big strapping Marine, you'll always be my baby boy,'" she said. "I'm just going to be beside myself and squeeze him to pieces."
For Denise Wenrich, 43, of Upper Allen Twp., waiting for her husband, Staff Sgt. Timothy Wenrich, 31, to return has been excruciating. She's thrown herself into grocery shopping and doing laundry to keep her mind occupied.
"I'm basically jumping out of my skin waiting for him to get home," she said.
Her son, Lance Cpl. Zachary Blackburn, 20, also is in the military. He's stationed in Hawaii but is home for his stepfather's return. This weekend will be a rare chance to have the whole family together, Denise Wenrich said.
She and Blackburn hung a banner on their house to welcome Timothy Wenrich home, and they'll make a quick stop at a party for family and friends at the Zembo Shrine. But Denise Wenrich said she's picking up her Marine and going home.
"I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight," she said Thursday. "The excitement of him coming home makes me want to cry. It's surreal right now. You can almost wrap your arms around it."
Bernadette Lorio, 30, of Center Valley, Lehigh County, said she feels the same way waiting for her husband, Gunnery Sgt. Carl Lorio, 36. But her enthusiasm can't match that of their son, Liam Lorio, 4, she said. Her twins, A.J. and Cole Lorio, 3, get excited just watching him, she said.
"He goes to preschool and they're trying to teach him about Easter," she said. "He doesn't want to hear anything about what Easter is based on. He just knows his daddy is coming home for Easter."
The family has wrapped the house in flags and balloons to celebrate, and they'll drive to Harrisburg today to pick up Carl Lorio. They made a banner with a picture of the children in military uniforms that reads: "We've been holding down the fort, Daddy."
"You've waited so long for the moment to come, and it's finally here," Bernadette Lorio said. "I'm not normally a crier, but I know when I see the boys see him and him see the boys, I'm going to lose it."
EMILY OPILO: 255-8167 or eopilo@patriot-news.com
Ellie
Marine unit due after 7-month Iraq tour of duty
Friday, April 10, 2009
BY EMILY OPILO
Of The Patriot-News
It's like Christmas at the Baker house. And Thanksgiving. And a birthday.
A lot has happened in the seven months since Lance Cpl. Ryan Baker, 21, left his Codorus Twp., York County, home for a deployment in Iraq. But his mother, Debbie Baker, has made sure he won't miss a thing.
She's prepared a special holiday room, complete with a Christmas tree, Thanksgiving apple pie and birthday cake, for his return today.
Ryan Baker is one of 138 members of Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, based in Harrisburg, who are to return tonight.
The unit deployed to Iraq in September for seven months. It will be welcomed home with a police escort on Second Street between 10:30 and 11:30 p.m. Organizers hope for a strong turnout of midstaters along the route.
For the mothers, fathers, wives, husbands and children whom the Marines left at home, the excitement surrounding their return has mounted in the last few days. The banners are hung, the yellow ribbons are tied and, in the Bakers' case, the tree is trimmed.
Now all that's left to do is wait.
Debbie Baker warned her son that she'll probably lose it when she sees him again. This is Ryan Baker's first deployment, and the longest she's ever been without him.
"I told him, 'I don't care if you're a big strapping Marine, you'll always be my baby boy,'" she said. "I'm just going to be beside myself and squeeze him to pieces."
For Denise Wenrich, 43, of Upper Allen Twp., waiting for her husband, Staff Sgt. Timothy Wenrich, 31, to return has been excruciating. She's thrown herself into grocery shopping and doing laundry to keep her mind occupied.
"I'm basically jumping out of my skin waiting for him to get home," she said.
Her son, Lance Cpl. Zachary Blackburn, 20, also is in the military. He's stationed in Hawaii but is home for his stepfather's return. This weekend will be a rare chance to have the whole family together, Denise Wenrich said.
She and Blackburn hung a banner on their house to welcome Timothy Wenrich home, and they'll make a quick stop at a party for family and friends at the Zembo Shrine. But Denise Wenrich said she's picking up her Marine and going home.
"I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight," she said Thursday. "The excitement of him coming home makes me want to cry. It's surreal right now. You can almost wrap your arms around it."
Bernadette Lorio, 30, of Center Valley, Lehigh County, said she feels the same way waiting for her husband, Gunnery Sgt. Carl Lorio, 36. But her enthusiasm can't match that of their son, Liam Lorio, 4, she said. Her twins, A.J. and Cole Lorio, 3, get excited just watching him, she said.
"He goes to preschool and they're trying to teach him about Easter," she said. "He doesn't want to hear anything about what Easter is based on. He just knows his daddy is coming home for Easter."
The family has wrapped the house in flags and balloons to celebrate, and they'll drive to Harrisburg today to pick up Carl Lorio. They made a banner with a picture of the children in military uniforms that reads: "We've been holding down the fort, Daddy."
"You've waited so long for the moment to come, and it's finally here," Bernadette Lorio said. "I'm not normally a crier, but I know when I see the boys see him and him see the boys, I'm going to lose it."
EMILY OPILO: 255-8167 or eopilo@patriot-news.com
Ellie