thedrifter
04-29-07, 06:01 AM
Published April 29, 2007
HOMECOMING »
Ozarks residents welcome home their Marines
Troops return home after seven-month deployment to Iraq.
Amos Bridges
News-Leader
Baby Kendra got to meet her daddy, Laura Schneider kissed her fiance for the first time in seven months, and Cliff Brackeen got to compare uniforms with his son as hundreds of Ozarks residents welcomed home a group of local Marines Saturday.
The 29 members of the Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines were greeted with cheers, hugs and tears as they returned from a seven-month deployment in Iraq.
Handmade posters created by area schoolchildren lined the fences outside the Armed Forces Reserve Center on North Fremont Avenue. An outdoor picnic covered the grounds inside, with dozens of children taking part in free pony rides, face-painting and pick-up games of football.
Linda Braga and her granddaughter, Natalie Andrews, drove in from Wentworth for the celebration. They didn't know any of the Marines returning Saturday but have two family friends deployed in Iraq.
"We just wanted to be supportive," Braga said. "We worry about them all the time."
Lance Cpl. Trey O'Connell — one of two members of the group sent home early after being injured in an IED attack — was excited to see his comrades again.
"I'm stoked — nothing could have kept me away," said O'Connell, who is undergoing treatment after suffering burns on 24 percent of his body. "Personally, I felt like I kind of left early."
The turnout Saturday was "awesome," he said. "It's a lot of support."
Lance Cpl. Dustin Henley was one of five "deployment dads" whose families grew while they were away. In accordance with Marine tradition, the new fathers were the first off the bus when it arrived.
Although three-month-old Kendra — wearing a onesie screen-printed with her father's picture — waited patiently, her mother, Amanda Henley, was ready to have her husband home.
"He's going to get to change his first diaper," she joked.
Lance Cpl. Jesse Brackeen had a different surprise waiting for him — his father, Cliff Brackeen recently rejoined rejoined the military at age 51.
"As far as I know, he doesn't know," Cliff Brackeen, now a specialist in the Missouri Army National Guard.
Cliff's wife, Winona, was the first to embrace her son as he exited the bus. A moment later, Cliff ambled over in his new fatigues.
"He almost looks better than I do in uniform," Jesse quipped, seeing his newly-shorn and uniformed father for the first time.
"But I still outrank you," Cliff replied with a grin.
Ellie
HOMECOMING »
Ozarks residents welcome home their Marines
Troops return home after seven-month deployment to Iraq.
Amos Bridges
News-Leader
Baby Kendra got to meet her daddy, Laura Schneider kissed her fiance for the first time in seven months, and Cliff Brackeen got to compare uniforms with his son as hundreds of Ozarks residents welcomed home a group of local Marines Saturday.
The 29 members of the Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines were greeted with cheers, hugs and tears as they returned from a seven-month deployment in Iraq.
Handmade posters created by area schoolchildren lined the fences outside the Armed Forces Reserve Center on North Fremont Avenue. An outdoor picnic covered the grounds inside, with dozens of children taking part in free pony rides, face-painting and pick-up games of football.
Linda Braga and her granddaughter, Natalie Andrews, drove in from Wentworth for the celebration. They didn't know any of the Marines returning Saturday but have two family friends deployed in Iraq.
"We just wanted to be supportive," Braga said. "We worry about them all the time."
Lance Cpl. Trey O'Connell — one of two members of the group sent home early after being injured in an IED attack — was excited to see his comrades again.
"I'm stoked — nothing could have kept me away," said O'Connell, who is undergoing treatment after suffering burns on 24 percent of his body. "Personally, I felt like I kind of left early."
The turnout Saturday was "awesome," he said. "It's a lot of support."
Lance Cpl. Dustin Henley was one of five "deployment dads" whose families grew while they were away. In accordance with Marine tradition, the new fathers were the first off the bus when it arrived.
Although three-month-old Kendra — wearing a onesie screen-printed with her father's picture — waited patiently, her mother, Amanda Henley, was ready to have her husband home.
"He's going to get to change his first diaper," she joked.
Lance Cpl. Jesse Brackeen had a different surprise waiting for him — his father, Cliff Brackeen recently rejoined rejoined the military at age 51.
"As far as I know, he doesn't know," Cliff Brackeen, now a specialist in the Missouri Army National Guard.
Cliff's wife, Winona, was the first to embrace her son as he exited the bus. A moment later, Cliff ambled over in his new fatigues.
"He almost looks better than I do in uniform," Jesse quipped, seeing his newly-shorn and uniformed father for the first time.
"But I still outrank you," Cliff replied with a grin.
Ellie