Showing posts with label welcome home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label welcome home. Show all posts

Thursday, December 26, 2019

11 Year old boy got Christmas wish...to see his brother

Watch: 11-Year-Old Boy Reunited With Military Brother While Christmas Caroling At Woodbury Senior Center


By CBS3 Staff
December 18, 2019
“For weeks my parents have been asking, ‘What do you want for Christmas?’ And I kept saying each and every single time, ‘I want to see my brother,'” Mark said. “Until a day ago they said, ‘So you are sticking to your word?’ And I said ‘Yes.’ And today he’s here.”

WOODBURY, N.J. (CBS) — Military homecomings always pull on the heartstrings, especially during the holiday season. An 11-year-old boy from Deptford Township had his Christmas wish come true while caroling with his Oak Valley Elementary classmates at a senior center on Wednesday morning.
Mark DiTizio told the audience at Atrium Post Acute Care of Woodbury all he wanted for Christmas was for his brother, Private Second Class Eric Shaw, to come home from the military.
read it here

Saturday, August 31, 2019

Warm welcome home for Green Beret who survived ambush

Hundreds give wounded veteran hero's welcome in North Idaho


KREM 2 News
Author: Megan Carroll
August 30, 2019

Army Sgt. 1st Class Brian Sharp and his fellow Green Berets were ambushed during a mission in Afghanistan. Sharp was shot multiple times and almost died.
KOOTENAI COUNTY, Idaho — Dozens of community members are lined up to give a hero's welcome on Friday to a veteran who was wounded in Afghanistan this year.
Deputies with the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office provided an escort for Army Sgt. 1st Class Brian Sharp from Stateline to Highway 95, then north to Lancaster Road at 11 a.m. on Friday.

The sheriff's office has also reached out to Idaho State Police and other law enforcement agencies that may want to help.

Sharp is the cousin-in-law of KCSO Sgt. Erik Hedlund, who says Sharp is coming to visit family in North Idaho now that he has recovered enough to travel.

Sgt. Sharp and his fellow Green Berets were on a mission in Afghanistan earlier this year when they were ambushed by their own Afghan support team, Hedlund said.

Two soldiers were killed in the battle. Sharp was shot multiple times in the pelvis and abdomen, and almost died in the field. He was awarded a Purple Heart for his sacrifices.

After Sharp was stabilized, he returned to the United States and has been recovering in the hospital, just recently regaining the ability to walk, Hedlund said. At the same time, his one-year-old daughter, Audrey, was also learning to walk for the first time.
read it here

Thursday, May 16, 2019

90 year old Mom of Vietnam veteran got to see her son welcomed home this time

90-year-old mother watches Vietnam veteran son get proper welcome at Fresno airport


Fresno Bee
BY CRESENCIO RODRIGUEZ-DELGADO
MAY 16, 2019
“I can’t even tell you how wonderful it was to be able to hug him,” the older Walker said. “They were so mistreated when they came home, and to have them now, watch all these people who are thanking their veterans, it’s really amazing.”

As the bright light on the screen grew, a 90-year-old mother leaned on a silver pillar inside Fresno Yosemite International Airport and peered over to watch the airplane prepare to land.

“They’re here,” Carolyn Walker thought to herself in that moment.

Among the 68 former military men returning on the 19th Central Valley Honor Flight trip from Washington D.C., was Walker’s son.
She’s remains so proud of him.

Her son, 68-year-old John Walker, served as a crew chief during the Vietnam War in 1970 and ‘71.

And this time, Carolyn Walker had plenty of company to help welcome these veterans home with a long tunnel of family and friends waiting.
read more here

Saturday, February 16, 2019

100 Fort Carson soldiers came home on Valentine's Day

Valentine's Homecoming at Fort Carson


FOX 2 News
Brandon Thompson
February 15, 2019

FORT CARSON, Colo. - Thursday, 100 Fort Carson soldiers returned home to their families after a nine-month deployment in Europe.

The mission for the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division was to work with American allies in the Balkan and Baltic states on training, readiness and information sharing.

"This just is a special moment for us all getting back," Billy Austin said. "Just looking out and doing what's best for our country, I really enjoy it. It means a lot."

Austin has been in the Army for around 20 years. This was his first deployment away from his two younger children, and over the course of his time away from home, his third was born, a son named Ryker.

"It just makes you appreciate the smaller things in life," Austin said. "Spending time with these four, I've been looking forward to it for nine months."

For another family, the Montanos, this was their first homecoming and deployment.

"This is my first homecoming, but I've been in the crowd to support my cousin's," said Nathan Montano.

Montano left for his mission just weeks after his daughter, Alice, was born.
read more here

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Heartwarming reunion, a military couple

Video: Military couple reunites after 8 months apart


WTHR 13 News
January 18, 2019

HOUSTON (WTHR) — In a heartwarming reunion, a military couple saw each other for the first time in 8 months.

Second Lt. Jordan Pruitt, an Army Medical Specialist Corps officer, got an unexpected surprise during his classroom training.
His significant other Jamie Douglas, who is also a second lieutenant, returned home from an 8-month deployment in Iraq. Douglas is a medical platoon leader/squadron medical officer who was stationed at Fort Hood in Texas.
The reunion was captured on video and we'll warn you, you might want to grab the tissues.
read more here and watch the video...you'll be happy you did.

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Fort Carson 300 Welcomed Home

300 soldiers return from Afghanistan in an emotional family reunion


KRDO News
By: Dani Fried
Posted: Nov 09, 2018

A homecoming for about 300 Fort Carson soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division was held Friday morning at 12:45 at William "Bill" Reed Special Events Center.


Families filled the center earlier in the evening, preparing to greet their loved ones.

"I can't wait for him to meet his son," said Ursula Lopez, whose son, Damien, was born only three days after her husband was deployed.

The 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team deployed in February. They were gone for a total of nine months.

Teddy Anderson, the young son of Maj. John Anderson, immediately began crying after Major Anderson ran in front of the other soldiers to greet him and his brother.
read more here

Sunday, April 8, 2018

Love them enough to learn how to help them

More than my love could give
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
April 8, 2018


"Combat should never be easier than coming home to you!" Kathie Costos

For The Love of Jack, His War My Battle originally published in 2003 because I tried to warn people about what was coming into their lives. PTSD! It was republished in 2013 because too many thought their love alone would be able to heal them. 

Love has to be strong enough to do whatever it takes to help them heal! Stop making excuses for what you fail to do. We lose more after combat than we do during it. Wars end and they come home but that battle lasts a lifetime! We have to be trained to win it for them!


The battle to save the lives of combat veterans is not lost and it is not new. 18 veterans and more than one active duty service member take their own lives each day. More attempt it. Kathie Costos is not just a Chaplain helping veterans and their families, not just a researcher, she lives with it everyday. Combat came home with her Vietnam veteran husband and they have been married for 28 years.She remembers what it was like to feel lost and alone.Everything you read in the news today about PTSD is in this book originally published in 2002 to serve as a guide to healing as well as a warning of what was coming for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
read more here 


UPDATE

Sun Herald out of Mississippi released resources for veterans to get help!

Are you a veteran who needs help? Here's a list of South Mississippi resources

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Vietnam Veterans Film "The Lost Homecoming"

‘They were fighting in something the public didn’t support.’ Filmmakers hope documentary gives them a voice

Sun Herald
Tammy Smith
September 17, 2017

In “The Lost Homecoming,” about 45 Vietnam War veterans, many of them from the Mississippi Gulf Coast, talk about their experiences both in country and when they returned to the States. Dawley, who lives in Diamondhead, produced and codirected the one-hour program, and Lenny Delbert of New Orleans is co-director and the filmmaker.

‘The Lost Homecoming: When Our Vietnam Veterans Came Home’ will air on WYES on Sunday night at 10 p.m. Courtesy WYES/Pan Am Communications
As a Veterans Administration psychologist, Harold Dawley heard many stories of war experiences and the aftermath of service.
But one story haunted him for four decades. He finally has been able to use one young man’s painful struggle to tell the story of a generation that felt torn apart.
“The Lost Homecoming: When Our Vietnam Veterans Came Home,” will be aired on New Orleans PBS station WYES at 10 p.m. Sunday, Sept, 17, about a half hour after the first episode of Ken Burns’s documentary series “The Vietnam War” airs. 

“They were fighting in something the public didn’t support, and so they really felt defeated,” Dawley said. 
The story that stayed with him was that of a young African American man from a small Mississippi town. 
“His best friend in Vietnam was a young white man, and he was killed right beside him,” Dawley said. “The thing that carried him through his time in service was the thought of his homecoming. He made sergeant. When he was headed home, he was looking outside the window of the bus and thinking about what people would say.” 
When the bus stopped in his hometown, the white man who owned the service station there looked at him, finally recognized him and said, “Well, boy, I see you made it back OK.” 
“He didn’t know that was going to be all the homecoming he was going to get,” Dawley said. The rejection the young man felt affected several aspects of his life. He became a drug addict, and his marriage fell apart.
read more here 

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Merritt Island ceremony marks Vietnam service

Merritt Island ceremony marks Vietnam service, sacrifice decades later
Florida Today
Britt Kennerly
August 22, 2017
The "Vietnam Veterans Service Day and Welcome Home Ceremony" at Brevard Veterans Memorial Center in Merritt Island drew more than 100 cadets from eight Brevard schools, dozens of friends and family members and more than 120 Vietnam veterans for a morning of respect and gratitude.
Many Vietnam veterans still feel the aching sting of not receiving a welcome home from the public when they returned from a long and bitterly divisive war.



Tuesday, local veterans got that overdue honor from young and old, down to Air Force Junior ROTC cadets not much younger than some of the veterans were when they served in Vietnam.

And the vets, now in their late 60s and older, were grateful.
read more here

Thursday, June 29, 2017

USS Carl Vinson Sailor Returns to Expanding Family

Surprise! Navy Wife Hides Pregnancy, Saves Reveal for Sailor's Homecoming
After a shocked pause, Chris pokes his wife's pregnant belly and asks, "Is it real?"
NBC San Diego
By Cassia Pollock


"Welcome Home Baby Daddy."


The wife of a U.S. Navy sailor had a big surprise to share with her husband when his aircraft carrier docked in San Diego: a new member of their family, nearly ready to join their ranks.

Petty Officer 1st Class Chris Daugherty, a Navy cryptologic technician, returned to the U.S. on June 23 after a six-month deployment on board the USS Carl Vinson.

Upon disembarking, Daugherty's two daughters and son rushed over to greet their uniformed father. He hugged his little ones, who were clad in mini sailor outfits, while his wife, Natasha Daugherty, hung back, smiling.
read more here

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Texas Roadhouse Went Above and Beyond for Soldier Coming Home

Florida restaurant helps soldier pull off surprise homecoming for dad
FOX News
June 2, 2017
"Not only did they reserve us a table, they closed all the blinds so Daddy couldn't see if we happen to walk by the wrong window, the manager recorded to homecoming on his personal phone for us," Adams wrote on Facebook.
A soldier received a memorable homecoming on Tuesday when he surprised his dad in Florida on his birthday with a little help from a restaurant, a family said.

Christopher Adams was coming home after being deployed in Germany to surprise his father on his birthday, Adams' wife Courtney wrote in a Facebook post. She called the Texas Roadhouse in Orange Park and asked if they could reserve a 12-person table for 6 p.m. for the celebration. The restaurant staff said would "love" to host the special moment for the family.
read more here

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Air Force Dad Gets Warm Welcome Home From Baby in Glasses

WATCH: BABY SEES DAD FOR FIRST TIME WITH GLASSES AFTER EMOTIONAL MILITARY HOMECOMING
ABC 7 News
Jennifer Matarese
March 13, 2017

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A baby boy in upstate New York is melting hearts after a video captured him seeing his father for the first time with glasses after a two-month deployment.
9-month-old Reagan had just gotten his new glasses right after his father, Brandon Caldwell, was deployed to Antarctica. Captain Caldwell has served in the Air Force for a decade.

Reagan's mother, Amanda, took the video of the happy reunion and was delighted that she got this emotional moment on camera. In fact, she said that Brandon was worried that Reagan might not remember him. That was certainly not the case!
read more here

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Vietnam Veteran Restored Faith Helping Others

Vietnam veteran uses faith to help other veterans
WVLT News
By David Ball
Oct 12, 2016
Owens is no longer on the battle field, but is still in service at his church. He helps with parking and security. He also helped put together a Vietnam honor ceremony at East Tennessee Veteran's Memorial set for Thursday.

The ceremony expects hundred of veterans and their families to show up to say thank you to the Vietnam veterans. Each vet or their family will receive a bronze pin.

For Owens, it took him several years after the war to have peace with his faith.
"None of us really knew what war was about, so as I lost individuals it became a battle for me on the inside. I went there as a Christian and came back as someone who didn't really believe in the almighty. You take me to battle and you take all of my friends... and you send me back here to an empty world what am I supposed to do?" said Owens.
However God kept calling and as more veterans needed help, Owens found a new front line, his faith. Owens says Thursday's ceremony will give veterans the opportunity to feel welcomed when they didn't decades ago.
read more here


Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Michigan Soldier Returns From Afghanistan Attacked by Wife, In Good Way

Soldier returns to emotional airport homecoming after nearly a year in Afghanistan 
KIMA News 
by Elizabeth Faugl 
October 4th 2016
A Soldier returned home to an emotional reunion after nearly a year in Afghanistan (Courtesy: Gerald R. Ford International Airport)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — For those who just can't get enough of those happy, emotional military homecomings, there was a special reunion in Michigan Tuesday afternoon. 

After 283 days in Afghanistan, Master Sergeant Keen flew home, and was greeted by his family at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids. His emotion could be seen as he walked off the plane and saw his family waiting at the gate. 

A video posted to the airport's Facebook page shows him dropping his bags as his wife runs to give him a hug. After their emotional reunion, he then was greeted by his kids and saw his 10-week-old grandson for the very first time. read more here

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Marines Welcomed to Seneca With Hundreds of Open Arms

Hundreds line streets to welcome Marines to Upstate
WYFF 4 News
Mandy Gaither
Jun 20, 2016

30 Marines, 10 more who were discharged staying at Keowee Key
SENECA, S.C. —Hundreds of people from Easley to Seneca lined the streets to welcome U.S. Marines from Camp LeJeune who are visiting the Upstate this week.
The Marines arrived in Easley on buses and boarded Jeeps driven by members of the Upstate Legion Jeep Club. The Marines were escorted by the Patriot Guard.

"They lay their lives on the line for us all year long for us, and they miss their families. They miss their friends. They miss everything about being home to protect us. They deserve this," said Tom Giordani, a member of the Patriot Guard.

Those who wanted to show support lined the streets and waved the American flag.
read more here

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Vietnam Veterans Honored At Special Ceremony

Vietnam veterans commemorated before Hank Williams Jr. concert
WSIL ABC News 3 
Jun 18, 2016
MARION -- The Marion VA honored Vietnam veterans with a special ceremony ahead of the Hank Williams Jr. concert Saturday night.

Vietnam War Veteran, Mike Gunter, was one of the many honored at the event.

"We feel especially proud that we're going to be honored tonight as Vietnam veterans. It's taken America a long time," says Gunter. "We must never turn our backs on another generation like we did the Vietnam veterans."
read more here

WSIL-TV 3 Southern Illinois

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Street Rod Truck Dedicated to Vietnam Veterans

Street Rod Nationals truck dedicated to Vietnam Veterans
ABC 27 News
By Samantha Galvez
Published: June 5, 2016

“It’s just a great feeling now after 45 years to actually have somebody come up and say, ‘thank you,’ and shake your hand,” Charlie Bryson, a Vietnam Veteran, said.
YORK, Pa. (WHTM) – More than 3,000 street rods made their way through the York Expo Center this weekend, but one stood out among the rest; a 1946 Chevy with Vietnam Veteran signatures all over it.

“The Vietnam Veterans have a symbol of respect for each other called, ‘welcome home,’ and it’s so nice to meet a veteran that I have never met before from Vietnam to just approach me and say, ‘welcome home.’,” Dennis Dahlinger, a Vietnam Veteran, said.

The truck has more than a thousand signatures on it.
read more here

Monday, March 21, 2016

Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day in West Virginia

Vietnam vets welcomed at area ceremony
The Register-Herald
By Charles Boothe
March 21, 2016

PRINCETON — Area residents and state and local dignitaries showed their appreciation of Vietnam veterans Sunday afternoon at a ceremony at the Memorial Building in Princeton.

The third annual Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day Ceremony was held to “welcome home, honor and recognize Vietnam veterans,” said Marie Blackwell, a member of the ceremony’s organizing committee.

Blackwell said those veterans were “never given that recognition” during and right after they served, and she also drew attention to the more than 58,000 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the more than 300,000 injured.

“We honor these brave men and women and their families,” she said.

The ceremony is part of a broader statewide recognition leading up to March 30, which is Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day in West Virginia.

Col. Daniel Bochicchio, M.D., interim director at the VA Medical Center in Beckley, said he has a “great respect for veterans who served in combat zones.

“I appreciate your sacrifices,” he told the veterans, and he offered to help in any way he could to make their lives better.

West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, one of the guest speakers, told the veterans that two simple words, “welcome home,” mean “so much,” but Vietnam veterans were not given that courtesy and respect.
read more here

Friday, March 11, 2016

Troops welcomed home to Daytona with hugs, tears

National Guard members return after 1-year deployment
Troops welcomed home to Daytona with hugs, tears
Daytona Beach News Journal
By Jim Abbott
Published: Thursday, March 10, 2016
Michelle Rivera kisses her husband SPC Osvaldo Rivera Jr. as he arrives from Afghanistan along with 200 other soldiers at Daytona Beach International Airport on Thursday.
News-Journal/LOLA GOMEZ
DAYTONA BEACH – Nearly 200 local troops deployed to Afghanistan were welcomed home to Volusia County on Thursday with banners, lingering hugs and tears of joy and gratitude.

“My world is complete,” said Misty Creech, wiping away tears after a long hug with her husband, Sgt. Josh Creech, on the tarmac at Sheltair Daytona at Daytona Beach International Airport.

Adorned in homemade “Team Creech” T-shirts, the Creech family — including the couple’s three children and Josh’s parents — were among hundreds of family members and area residents on hand to salute soldiers in the 1st Battalion of the 265th Air Defense Artillery Unit of the Florida Army National Guard.
read more here

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Hundreds Welcome Home Montana National Guardsmen

A Big Sky welcome: Hundreds turn out for Montana soldiers returning from Afghanistan
Independent Record
AL KNAUBER
Updated 4 hrs ago
“This is not where you expect to be. I didn’t expect at 50 years old to be waiting for my husband to return from war.”
Mary Graff
A soldier poses with his family after returning from a six-month deployment to Afghanistan. Thom Bridge, Independent Record
A six-month wait came to an end Friday for the families of six Montana Army National Guard soldiers.

Wives and children, mothers and fathers waited for a plane to arrive that carried the soldiers who were returning from duty in Afghanistan, as did friends and others in uniforms of camouflage who said they too were in service.

John Bebich, a Marine Corps veteran, was among those who came for the ceremony. His son, David, was on the incoming plane. He said he understood what it’s like to leave for duty. He also understood what it’s like to return.

Bebich served from 1969 to 1972 and said as he waited for David that “the going part isn’t so fun.”

“To come back, it’s like Christmas. You wait for it to arrive.”
read more here