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thedrifter
04-12-09, 07:35 AM
Newsday.com
LIer's photo of Marine nephew's homecoming gets award

BY MELANIE LEFKOWITZ

melanie.lefkowitz@newsday.com

6:33 PM EDT, April 11, 2009


Joseph Szadok, now 26, spent five years in the U.S. Marines, including seven months in Iraq, from January to August 2006. On his return, nine members of the then-corporal's Long Island family flew down to meet his plane at the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, S.C. After a group hug from his family, he and his sister, Lori-Ann Szadok, embraced during a sudden downpour. Their aunt, Robin Appel, a freelance photographer, snapped a picture. On Friday, another group of LI Marines returned from war to be met by their loved ones. Many photos were snapped, of course.

Appel's photo won the Moment of the Year award from Kodak. This is the story of her photo.

"We were waiting for the plane to land and it was a little late, and it was a beautiful sunny day. As the plane arrived the sky started to get very, very dark, and everybody was waving their flags and their 'Welcome Home' posters that everybody had handmade . . . And as the soldiers were getting off the sky got so dark, and the skies just opened up, and it poured and poured and poured. The colors on the posters were all blending together and everybody was just soaked.

"I saw my nephew coming out and he had his hands in the air, waving. He had seen the family, and we just made a mad dash for him, just encircled him.

"I just shot away. Then as they turned around to start walking towards where I was, my niece and nephew started hugging each other and I got that picture."

"There was a very festive atmosphere. There were a lot of signs around, there was a band playing, a lot of people were lined up. There was a lot of anticipation, every plane that came by, everyone was thinking, could this be the one?

"As the Marines started filing off the plane, you could kind of see them walking through the rain, hundreds of them. Even through the rain and hundreds of Marines dressed in their fatigues, everybody knew who they were spotting right away. Everyone was just running through the rain. Then there was one kind of joint big group hug. I don't even know that there was a whole lot of words in that initial few minutes.

"There was definitely a sense of just happiness and relief. I think overall the whole crowd could feel it. Even when you're not hugging and looking at your family member, all around you were just families reuniting, little kids with their parents, the overall feeling was just happiness and a lot of relief that they had made it home and were safe . . .

"I'm so glad to have him back, glad to have him safe. You take him for granted sometimes, when he's being a little brother and annoying you, but looking at the picture it all comes back, what it was like to have him gone. It puts things into context."

Joseph Szadok, 26, Massapequa

"The first thing I saw was my parents. I knew right where to walk. The first thing I expected was to hear my mother crying, because that's what she does, of course.

"Then everyone at one time comes and gives me a hug, a big group hug. To have that much support, so many aunts and uncles and cousins, it was an unbelievable feeling. And as I was walking back, my sister just found me and I found her and we put our arms around each other and kept on walking. We were very happy to see each other.

"When we first got to Iraq it was the end of rainy season and it did nothing but rain. The last six months we were there, we saw no rain. It was 110 degrees, 115 degrees, and that really starts to get to you after a while. When we leave the plane and come off in this nice cold rain, it was very refreshing. None of us minded the rain.

"You expect to get off the plane and everything will be back to normal again, but it's very different from normal. Most people don't know what it feels like to not get to see your family for seven months and come back from a place like that. It was hard. You get into a routine after a while, it gets easier. At the same time, it's very depressing and very boring and the only thing I can say is you don't want to be there anymore. You're there, but you don't want to be there.

"Adapting to regular life is a little different than I expected, coming into bad times like this. I can't find a job; it's been six months. It's very hard to do. I worked five days a week for five years straight, and now I'm sitting here, bored. I'm always looking."

Video

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-enphot1212645458apr11,0,6008502.story?track=rss

Photos

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-szadok-pg,0,7101955.photogallery

Ellie