Soldiers return home
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A year of duty in Iraq, a year of phone calls, a year of connecting to family via Webcam
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At least seven Baton Rouge firetrucks joined hundreds of families and friends who waved flags and carried colorful signs Monday to greet 175 members of the Louisiana National Guard’s 769th Engineer Battalion.
The battalion returned home after a year of duty in Iraq.
Six-year-old Blaine Barnett, of Prairieville, was one of the hundreds of family members waiting at Louisiana Aircraft next to Baton Rouge Metro Airport for his father, Capt. Joseph Barnett.
“He’s been bouncing off the walls all day,” said Courtney Barnett, Blaine’s mother.
“He’s told anyone and everyone that he’s seen today that he’s going to the airport to pick up his dad. Everyone at his swimming class this morning just applauded.”
Finally at about 6 p.m. the crowd let out a deafening roar when a commercial airplane with red, white and blue stars painted on its tail rolled down the tarmac next to the hangar where family and friends of the unit were waiting.
On hand to greet the soldiers as they got off the airplane were Gov. Bobby Jindal, Mayor-President Kip Holden, LSU coach Les Miles, and his son, Ben, along with a host of National Guard leaders.
Two companies from the 769th Battalion were deployed for the past year, including the 769th Headquarters Company and the 769th Forward Support Company. Both are headquartered in Baton Rouge.
While in Iraq, the Headquarters Support Company served as a headquarters for other engineer companies deployed from other states by planning, organizing and overseeing missions they performed. The other company performed some of these general engineering missions, including projects such as force protection improvements such as fixing roads, and maneuver enhancement projects to help coalition forces, National Guard officials said.
But on Monday, little of that mattered as the soldiers sought out their families and friends in the crowd.
With many of the family members wearing the unit’s blue T-shirts with the names of all of the deployed soldiers emblazoned on the back, it was challenging for the soldiers to find loved ones.
“Everyone here with me said I could hug Mike first,” said Ruthie Leming as she waited with a crowd of family and friends for her husband, Chief Warrant Officer Mike Leming, to arrive.
Part of the group waiting to see Leming were members of the Baton Rouge Fire Department where Leming is a firefighter when not on Guard duty. They brought the seven firetrucks as a way to welcome him home.
“I’ve been worried about him,” Ruthie Leming said of her husband as tears welled up in her eyes. “We’ve been together since I was 15. He’s my best friend. I just want him to come home and I just want to hold him.”
Leming’s three daughters also waited patiently with the crowds.
“This is sort of surreal,” said Hannah Leming, 15. “I’ve seen my dad on a Webcam for a year and now I’m finally going to really see him. I am just so happy and excited. I’m going to tell him I love him and he’s been gone way too long.”
For Mike Leming, the deployment was long and stressful at times.
“We had to build a concrete barrier in Sadr City,” Leming said. “Those were some of the worst moments for me. It took seven weeks. We worked on it at night because that was the safest time to do the work, but they still shot at us.”
Still, Leming said he was happy to have served his country. “But I’m also happy to be at home,” he said.
Thomas McCorkel and five of his six children stood calmly in the crowd holding about a 10-foot long sign that welcomed home his wife and the children’s mother, Cpl. Tracey McCorkel.
“We’ve done all right,” Thomas McCorkel said of his family as he held a bouquet of roses he planned to give to his wife. “The kids all had chores and everyone helped, especially the older kids. I don’t think we could have done it without their help. But we managed. I do think, though, that I want a few days off.”
The McCorkel children range in ages 6 to 18.
“It’s been hard not having my mom around to talk to,” said Thomas McCorkel’s stepdaughter, Keri Grant, 14. “But Thomas has been great.”
When Tracey McCorkel finally arrived, she never had a chance to hold the roses.
“I haven’t been able to take them” she said smiling as she held onto one or two children at a time under each arm. “The deployment went well, but I can’t tell you how hard it was to be away from my family, especially in the beginning. But you do what you have to do.”
Denise Mayeux said she and her two daughters, Sandy, 19, and Beth, 17, planned to whisk Chief Warrant Officer Theophile Mayeux off on a fishing trip to Catfish Heaven in St. Martinville.
“I have the camper all packed,” she said. “We’re leaving right after he gets here. It’s been hard on us. I was really worried about him. I couldn’t even watch the news.”
For Sandy Mayeux, her dad’s deployment has been particularly hard.
“I got engaged before he left and I’ve had to plan a wedding without him,” she said of her Oct. 11 wedding date. “I set it in October because I wanted to be sure he would be home.”
When their father arrived, both girls waited as their mother and father hugged. After a few moments, he looked up, found his daughters and wrapped them both in a hug.
“I just so glad he’s coming home,” Sandy Mayeux said.
The battalion returned home after a year of duty in Iraq.
Six-year-old Blaine Barnett, of Prairieville, was one of the hundreds of family members waiting at Louisiana Aircraft next to Baton Rouge Metro Airport for his father, Capt. Joseph Barnett.
“He’s been bouncing off the walls all day,” said Courtney Barnett, Blaine’s mother.
“He’s told anyone and everyone that he’s seen today that he’s going to the airport to pick up his dad. Everyone at his swimming class this morning just applauded.”
Finally at about 6 p.m. the crowd let out a deafening roar when a commercial airplane with red, white and blue stars painted on its tail rolled down the tarmac next to the hangar where family and friends of the unit were waiting.
On hand to greet the soldiers as they got off the airplane were Gov. Bobby Jindal, Mayor-President Kip Holden, LSU coach Les Miles, and his son, Ben, along with a host of National Guard leaders.
Two companies from the 769th Battalion were deployed for the past year, including the 769th Headquarters Company and the 769th Forward Support Company. Both are headquartered in Baton Rouge.
While in Iraq, the Headquarters Support Company served as a headquarters for other engineer companies deployed from other states by planning, organizing and overseeing missions they performed. The other company performed some of these general engineering missions, including projects such as force protection improvements such as fixing roads, and maneuver enhancement projects to help coalition forces, National Guard officials said.
But on Monday, little of that mattered as the soldiers sought out their families and friends in the crowd.
With many of the family members wearing the unit’s blue T-shirts with the names of all of the deployed soldiers emblazoned on the back, it was challenging for the soldiers to find loved ones.
“Everyone here with me said I could hug Mike first,” said Ruthie Leming as she waited with a crowd of family and friends for her husband, Chief Warrant Officer Mike Leming, to arrive.
Part of the group waiting to see Leming were members of the Baton Rouge Fire Department where Leming is a firefighter when not on Guard duty. They brought the seven firetrucks as a way to welcome him home.
“I’ve been worried about him,” Ruthie Leming said of her husband as tears welled up in her eyes. “We’ve been together since I was 15. He’s my best friend. I just want him to come home and I just want to hold him.”
Leming’s three daughters also waited patiently with the crowds.
“This is sort of surreal,” said Hannah Leming, 15. “I’ve seen my dad on a Webcam for a year and now I’m finally going to really see him. I am just so happy and excited. I’m going to tell him I love him and he’s been gone way too long.”
For Mike Leming, the deployment was long and stressful at times.
“We had to build a concrete barrier in Sadr City,” Leming said. “Those were some of the worst moments for me. It took seven weeks. We worked on it at night because that was the safest time to do the work, but they still shot at us.”
Still, Leming said he was happy to have served his country. “But I’m also happy to be at home,” he said.
Thomas McCorkel and five of his six children stood calmly in the crowd holding about a 10-foot long sign that welcomed home his wife and the children’s mother, Cpl. Tracey McCorkel.
“We’ve done all right,” Thomas McCorkel said of his family as he held a bouquet of roses he planned to give to his wife. “The kids all had chores and everyone helped, especially the older kids. I don’t think we could have done it without their help. But we managed. I do think, though, that I want a few days off.”
The McCorkel children range in ages 6 to 18.
“It’s been hard not having my mom around to talk to,” said Thomas McCorkel’s stepdaughter, Keri Grant, 14. “But Thomas has been great.”
When Tracey McCorkel finally arrived, she never had a chance to hold the roses.
“I haven’t been able to take them” she said smiling as she held onto one or two children at a time under each arm. “The deployment went well, but I can’t tell you how hard it was to be away from my family, especially in the beginning. But you do what you have to do.”
Denise Mayeux said she and her two daughters, Sandy, 19, and Beth, 17, planned to whisk Chief Warrant Officer Theophile Mayeux off on a fishing trip to Catfish Heaven in St. Martinville.
“I have the camper all packed,” she said. “We’re leaving right after he gets here. It’s been hard on us. I was really worried about him. I couldn’t even watch the news.”
For Sandy Mayeux, her dad’s deployment has been particularly hard.
“I got engaged before he left and I’ve had to plan a wedding without him,” she said of her Oct. 11 wedding date. “I set it in October because I wanted to be sure he would be home.”
When their father arrived, both girls waited as their mother and father hugged. After a few moments, he looked up, found his daughters and wrapped them both in a hug.
“I just so glad he’s coming home,” Sandy Mayeux said.
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