Soldiers get a welcome

Crowds gather to greet reserve unit returning from Iraq

The excitement was palpable in Nellis Air Force Base's Hangar 57. Hundreds of wives, husbands, parents and children, clutching American flags and homemade "Welcome home" signs, gathered there the morning of March 25 to await the arrival of their loved ones, soldiers finally returning home after a year moving tanks, bulldozers and supplies across the Iraqi desert as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Some families had been lucky enough to see their soldiers over the Christmas holidays. Others hadn't laid eyes on their loved ones since January 2003.

Julie Lesko was one of the lucky ones. Her husband, Sgt. 1st Class Richard Lesko, came home on leave over the holidays. Today, though, Julie fought back tears after being told that Richard's bus was late and she would have to wait another hour to see him. Her son, 2-year-old Jakob, was dressed in miniature Army fatigues and a T-shirt with the phrase "Hoo-waa!" printed in black across the front. He, too, was getting tired of waiting.

"He's ready for Daddy," Julie said. "(Richard) missed his first and second birthdays."

Sgt. Lesko is part of the 257th Combat Transportation Company, a U.S. Army Reserve Unit mobilized early last year for active duty in Iraq. The company landed in Kuwait on April 6, 2003. Since then, the 257th has logged more than 2 million miles transporting heavy equipment and supplies. The 250 soldiers, some of them arriving by plane -- others in buses -- would be greeted with a hero's welcome in the airplane hangar.

Katey McDaniel, 8, was anxiously awaiting the arrival of her father, Jim McDaniel.

"I don't eat breakfast in the morning when he's not here," she said. "He makes the best breakfasts."

The first thing Katey would do when she saw her father, she said, was "beat everybody to him."

"I'm going to take my sandals off and run barefoot to him," she said.

When her father's plane arrived, Katey was true to her word. She jumped from a short block wall where she had been sitting for a good view of the runway, and ran to her father while he was still in formation with the other soldiers. He scooped her up and carried her into the hangar.

"I could kiss the dirt, I'm so excited," Jim McDaniel said. "Everything you see (in Iraq) is beige. I see all these pretty colors here."

Lauren Hill, 4, was also very excited. She hadn't seen her mother, Staff Sgt. Lana Hills, since Christmas, and for nearly a year before that. The redheaded, dimpled little girl didn't quite understand why her mother was gone.

"I've had to do the mother thing," said Lauren's father, Ian Hills. "I've had to ask myself, 'What would mom do?" "

Staff Sgt. Hills was a stay-at-home mother of three before being called to active duty. Her husband, who works full-time, was for the past year left to single-handedly care for Lauren and her siblings, 12-year-old Amanda and 10-year-old Michael.

"It's the first time I've been alone with three kids," Ian Hills said. "The day starts at 6 a.m. and doesn't end until 11 p.m. (The children) go to three different schools."

As hard as it's been to hold the family together in his wife's absence, Hills said he's grateful.

"I'm closer to the children than I was before," he said. "I've gained a new appreciation. I've learned it's so important to go to all the kids' concerts and stuff. From now on, I'll be doing lots to help out around the house."

Now that the soldiers are home, most will go back to their former jobs.

One member of the 257th, Sgt. Cameron Sarno, was killed in a September accident in Kuwait. Still, his sister Jamie Lynn Gallarde attended the welcome home party for Sarno's company.

"We are very, very proud of you," Gallarde told the other soldiers.

While in Iraq, the company earned 129 Army commendation medals. Several soldiers received Bronze Stars and one soldier received a Purple Heart for an injury resulting from hostile fire.


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