By Deb Kelly
INDIANAPOLIS — After nine months in Iraq, a few flight delays, and a final march through the halls of the new Indianapolis International Airport terminal, the soldiers finally appeared to anxious family members and friends applauding, shouting and waving American flags.
“Here they come!” a child said, as the approximately 100 soldiers from the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team turned the corner and were greeted by the sounds of cheering and the USO band.
The troops returned Wednesday from a nine-month tour of duty in Iraq. The flight was initially scheduled to land early in the morning, and after a few delays, it finally was announced over the public address system around 10:15 a.m. that, “the military flight from Iraq has just landed.”
Soldiers were greeted first by distinguished military and government leaders who lined up in the Col. Weir Cook Terminal to welcome them home. First in line was Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, adjutant general for the state of Indiana.
As the soldiers then made their way through the terminal, other travelers and employees at the airport shops and restaurants stopped to applaud.
There was no shortage of tears and hugs in the new Civic Plaza as husbands were reunited with wives and parents reunited with children.
Maj. Harold “Hal” Johnston of Terre Haute got a quick smile and wave from wife, Geri, and son Wyatt, 10, before lining up with the unit for a final dismissal in the plaza. The Johnstons, like all the families, had an emotional reunion.
The reunions were short-lived, however. After a short time, the soldiers were taken to Camp Atterbury, where they will be debriefed for about a week before getting to go home for good.
Another Terre Haute family basking in the emotion of the moment was the Curtis family. Donald E. Curtis, 28, was reunited with his wife, Susanna, and young children Kaitlyn and Devin. His mother, Virginia Curtis, was beaming as her grandchildren climbed into their father’s arms.
“He’s been yelling for his daddy all the time,” Virginia Curtis said of 4-year-old Devin.
Staff Sgt. Dale L. Carson, 49, said it was time to “go home and put our lives back together again.” Carson, a Terre Haute South Vigo High School graduate who works at GE, has been in the military for 30 years, he said. This deployment was the second of his career. Carson said he would reunite with his 18-year-old daughter and 26-year-old son after debriefing at Camp Atterbury.
It was a very happy ninth birthday for Devon Blakely of Brazil, who got to celebrate by welcoming dad Ean Blakely home. Ean Blakely’s wife, Danielle, and daughter Kaitlynne, 5, shared some quiet moments in a corner of the terminal with their husband and father.
One couple embraced in the middle of the plaza, and the returning soldier, echoing the sentiments of all the others nearby, pulled his wife away to get a good look at her, and said, “I missed you.”
Deb Kelly can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.kelly@tribstar.com
