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Local 210th soldiers are back from Iraq
By Rose Hooper
Viewing the approaching Black Balsam Mountains from the cockpit of a C-130, Capt. Tom Lewis said, “I never realized how beautiful Western North Carolina is until that moment.”
“I thanked God when I saw those mountains come into view,” said Staff Sgt. Kenneth Woodring, a member of Commander Lewis’s N.C. 210th Military Police Battalion.
Soldiers of the National Guard’s 210th Military Police Co. received a well-deserved heroes’ welcome from their families at the Asheville Regional Airport last Thursday (June 10). Waiting to meet their dad at the airport on Thursday (left) were Clay, 5, Salem, 3, and Samantha, 8 months, children of returning Guard member Sgt. Sam Long and his wife, Jennifer. – Herald photo by Rose Hooper
See Photo Gallery Here
Members of the 210th, returning after a 15-month deployment, were greeted by a cheering crowd waving posters, flags and open arms as two military planes carrying the battalion touched down at Asheville Regional Airport Thursday morning (June 10).
The unit spent more than a year in Baghdad patrolling the streets of the war-torn city, training Iraqi police forces, transporting and guarding enemy detainees and completing 500 supply convoy support missions.
“They never turned back due to enemy opposition,” said Maj. Gen. William Ingram Jr., adjutant general of the N.C. National Guard.
‘We became famous’
During a brief welcome home ceremony at a private hanger, Lewis told his soldiers, “In front of your family and friends I want to tell you that you did an excellent job. We became famous – I can’t say world famous, but I can say Iraqi Theatre famous.”
Members talked about what a close-knit group they had become and how, wherever they went, they were known for that cohesiveness, their musical talents and “the funny way we talked.”
“I’ve been with some of these guys 20 years – we’ve served in other theatres together,” said SFC Judy Whitley about their family-like closeness.
“But sometimes it’s like your sister, you love her to death, but if you share a room with her, after a while she’s going to get on your nerves. I think we’re all glad to get back to our real families.”
As for their musical talents, Whitley said SPC Mark Higgins, who played the bagpipe, and guitar players Sgt. Jess Roberts, Sgt. Mark Brown, Sgt. Johnny Jaimez and SPC Shane McConnell were “frequently called on to entertain the brass.”
Lots of brass showed up for Thursday’s homecoming, including Gov. Mike Easley, who called the 210th “the vanguard of freedom for this country.”
These colors never ran
Lewis, who earned a political science degree from Western Carolina University, presented Easley with the American flag the company flew in Iraq. It was given to them by Gen. Ingram during their departure ceremony in March 2003.
“It’s faded and frayed and in rough shape, like our troops, but I will tell you one thing– these colors never ran and neither did the 210th.”
Congressman Charles Taylor presented Lewis with a flag that had flown over the capital and thanked the soldiers for “standing between us and evil in the world.”
Just in time
Staff Sgt. Mike Deitz’s daughter, Mikki, arrived on a plane from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., just 10 minutes before her father’s military plane flew in.
“I got here just in time,” she said, joining her sister, Mandi, and mother, Faye, as well as a host of her father’s friends.
“It doesn’t get any better than this,” said Sgt. Deitz as he rushed across the tarmac to greet them.
Left a void
“And what’s your name? It’s been so long since I’ve seen you,” he said jokingly as he kissed his wife.
“Mike left a real void in a lot of peoples’ lives,” said friend Lou Powell. “He was choir director at our church, Jarrett Memorial, and we never filled that position.”
Hometown celebration
The Sylva unit was honored by a hometown crowd Saturday evening at Mark Watson Park and downtown as the soldiers, in their tan desert fatigues, rode in convertibles down Main Street.
Before they arrived, 5-year-old Alex Baker, son of Scott and Heather Baker, practiced what he was going to say.
“I’m going to tell the soldiers, ‘Thank you; you did a good job,’” he told his grandmother, Evelyn Baker, as they sat on a park bench waiting.
Jackson County Commis–sioners’ Chairman Stacy Buchanan echoed those very words as he officially welcomed “our county’s true heroes – the men and women of the 210th.”
Buchanan talked of the small town sense of community and patriotism “from Cowee Mountain to Soco Mountain, from Balsam to Cashiers, but most of all, from the bottom of our hearts ... we are to be forever grateful to you for serving our country so faithfully.”
Remembering Sgt. Franklin
Buchanan called for a moment of silence for Staff Sgt. Bobby Franklin, the 210th member killed in action. Franklin died Aug. 20, 2003, when his Humvee ran over a bomb.
“This homecoming is very emotional for me,” said commissioner Roberta Crawford, who had a brother killed in World War II. “Not a day has gone by that these soldiers haven’t been in my prayers.”
‘Honored’
At the podium Sheriff Jimmy Ashe told the soldiers there were very few times he used the word “honored.”
“But I use it proudly today as we are honored by these brave men and women,” he said.
The sheriff, whose officers escorted the 210th home from the airport, had a special message for three of the soldiers, who are officers in his department.
Work on county soil
“To Staff Sgt. Steve Lillard, Staff Sgt. Kenneth Woodring and Sgt. David Lovedahl, let me say there is work on Jackson County soil now that needs to be done and I look forward to your return,” Ashe said.
Waving flags in both hands, well-wishers shouted “thank yous” as the soldiers, visible in the open-topped vehicles, rode down a yellow-ribboned Main Street.
‘Elephant lifted’
“I feel like an elephant has been lifted from my chest,” Beverly Olsen said of her son’s (medic SPC Eric Olsen) return.
PFC Melissa Lewis, mother of 2-year-old, Austin, said she is eager to “switch from being a full-time soldier to being a full-time mom.”
“I’m glad to have my best friend back home,” Terry Walawender said of her husband, Sgt. Tom Walawender.
The 15-month deployment caused Staff Sgt. Mark Kephart to rethink his career.
“I just might change jobs,” said Kephart, who runs a construction company. “I worked 16-hour days and that didn’t give me much time with my family,” he said of wife, Angie and daughters Erin, 6, and Bonnie, 13. “I’d like a job where I can spend more time with them.”
Daughter Erin said she was glad her father was home so “he can build us a swimming pool.”
“Hey, wait a second,” her father said. “I thought you and Bonnie wanted to go camping – that’s cheaper.”
Noticing changes
During a complimentary dinner catered by Lee’s Barbecue at the Community Services Center, soldiers relaxed, talking casually about such things as the changes they noticed.
Many, including Olsen, were astonished by the “escalated gas prices,” now at $1.99 a gallon.
Even the price of hamburgers has gone up but that didn’t stop SPC R.J. Cassle, who chowed down “on a good old American cheeseburger” the first chance he got.
“I’m glad that hasn’t changed,” Cassle said of the taste he had craved for 15 months.
Whitley, who had tacos her first night back home, was surprised at the open space where the old Ford dealership used to be.
Sweet mountain rain
Jaimez, who “thought he entered the gates of hell” when he felt the 140-degree Baghdad temperature, said he had almost forgotten how sweet a mountain rain felt.
Stepping outside the Community Services Center into a shower, several of the soldiers said they had dreamed of this moment.
“In Bagdad it wasn’t like the mountains here where it cools off at night. You’d be lying in your bed in a puddle of sweat as hot as hell. I’d lay there and dream about a cool mountain rain,” one soldier said. “Well, if that was hell, surely this is heaven,” he said, embracing the rain.
Five left behind
Five of the 210th’s unit – Sgt. Oscar Martinez, Sgt. Robert Shook, Sgt. Geoffrey Ollis, SPC Robert Edwards and Sgt. Jamie Ashe – remained in Baghdad as the rear detachment to process vehicles and take care of equipment problems.
“By the time people read this paper I expect those soldiers should be on their way back home,” said county veterans service officer Russ Bauer.
Colonel to feed troops
Col. Jack O’Connell, owner of Mica’s, will host a complimentary dinner at his restaurant on Tuesday, June 22, for members of the 210th and their partners.
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