Returning soldier gets 1-in-300,000 welcome

Sierra Vista Herald.com ^ | Bill Hess

[SandRat]

FORT HUACHUCA — One of the soldiers who returned from Kuwait Thursday was Spc. Carlos Smith, of the 269th Signal Company.

While the majority of the returning 142 soldiers were members of the 69th Signal Company who spent most of a year in Iraq, Smith was stationed in Kuwait for six months during his second deployment. The troops were on a civilian airliner that first touched down on U.S. soil in Bangor, Maine.

Unknown to Smith was that he was going to be honored by a group of greeters, local residents and veterans who have been welcoming military people back to the United States. This tradition began with the first Gulf War. The greeters began keeping a tally of those returning in 2003, and the 28-year-old Smith was the 300,000th GI to land at the Maine airport.

According to a story in The Boston Globe published Friday, Smith was pulled out of line as he and others from Fort Huachuca were in the international terminal.

The soldier was presented a bag of Maine-made products, according to the newspaper article about the honor on Thursday. The items included honey, canned blueberries, a candle and stuffed toys — a lobster and a moose — for his children Jamilah, 8, and Ethan, 3.

According to the Globe article, Smith, who will be heading to Georgia to be at Ethan’s 4th birthday, said he didn’t know what was going on when he was pulled out of line. “I saw all the people out here clapping and I just started smiling,” he told a reporter about the at least 50 greeters in the terminal. “It’s so nice to see people who appreciate what you’re doing.”

SENIOR REPORTER Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.

[SandRat]

Follow-on Story to

Tears of joy at Fort Huachuca as soldiers, families reunite
Sierra Vista Herald.com ^ | Bill Hess

Posted on 05/13/2006 9:58:05 AM MDT by SandRat

[SandRat]

WOO-HOO!!!!

[STARWISE]

Military appreciation PING!

[ohioWfan]

Cool story! Thanks for the ping, STARWISE!

[CindyDawg]

:')

[armymarinemom]

The best part of this story is what was unpublished. The 300,000 mark was covered above the fold in the Bangor Daily News. A huge photo was displayed of the returning soldier and the troop greeters.
What was not reported in the Bangor Daily was medea benjamin's visit on the same day. The Peace and Justice center was really hoping for at least photo coverage. Bwwwaaaahhhaaaaahhaaaaa.

[kitkat]

COOL tag line, mom.

[armymarinemom]

Thanks.