Local & Bistate
Finally here to stay: Soldier from the 438 Chemical Company
TERRE HAUTE — Five days ago, Braiden Hill got to see her husband, Master Sgt. David Hill, for just about an hour after he arrived in Indianapolis from Iraq.
Then the returned soldier was off to Camp Atterbury, near Edinburgh.
On Monday, Braiden Hill’s husband came home, this time to stay, after serving more than eight months of duty in Iraq and more than a year on active duty. Hill was one of four soldiers to depart a bus as it stopped at the Army National Guard facility at 3614 Maple Ave. in Terre Haute.
Hill, 35, is a member of the 438 Chemical Company and his wife, 27, is chairwoman of the 438th Chemical Company Family Readiness Group, which works with family of those deployed.
The next few days will give the couple a chance to reunite. The Hills were married in June 2007 — David with two children and Braiden with three — but before the end of the year, David was activated.
“It will be nice to have the smell of coffee back in the house again. I don’t drink coffee, but I just dug the coffee maker out yesterday and put it back on the shelf,” Braiden Hill said. “I can’t give a word to describe it,” she said of her husband’s absence.
“It has been stressful and a lot of sleepless nights. I know he took care of himself, otherwise he would have to answer to me,” she said, smiling, then giving her husband a slight push against his shoulder.
“Actually, he has kept my feet planted on the ground, just by calling me and e-mailing me,” she said.
Master Sgt. Hill said a group of 30 or 40 people paid “to have our own Internet [server], so we could Web cam about every day, unless on a mission. They had freedom phones over there and we had free phone calls. We paid so I could have the [Internet] in my room personally. We paid about $50 a month between the 30 or 40 of us.”
Sometimes Hill tried to discipline his children from overseas via the Web.
“It didn’t work at all,” Braiden Hill said, smiling. “But they are so ready for him to be home,” she said of their children. The couple planned to surprise the children of his arrival after school.
David Hill said his immediate plans were just to go home.
“Go home and just relax without having to get up and get dressed in full uniform carrying your weapon just to walk 50 feet to use the bathroom or walk a half mile to go eat,” he said. “It was most of a mile to get to our trucks; we were walking everywhere. It will be nice to have everything right here,” he said of his home.
He had been stationed at Al-Taqaddum Airbase, west of Baghdad in Iraq. He was attached to the 151st Army battalion where he did
logistical patrols.
“We provided security for convoys,” he said, mainly for fuel supplies. Going overseas was not new for David Hill, who has served in the military for nearly 17 years. He served in the U.S. Marines from 1991 to 1996 and was deployed between 2004 and 2006 in Somalia, Bosnia and Monrovia.
For Braiden Hill, Monday was almost like starting over for the couple.
“When I went to Indianapolis, it was almost like a first date again. I was so nervous,” she said. “This is going to be like starting over for us, but it is just so nice to have him home.”
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com
- Local & Bistate
-
-
Vigo County man dies after being shot at his home
A man has died from multiple gunshot wounds after an early morning shooting west of Prairieton on Robertson Road.
The victim has been identified as 59-year-old Al Kiger.
-
Covered Max Ehrmann statue installed, awaiting official unveiling
Grinning, sculptor Bill Wolfe briefly uncovered his latest work — a bronze statue of poet Max Ehrmann. “Max just got to see Terre Haute for the first time,” Wolfe said.
-
F136 fighter engine wins House vote
Terre Haute won a small victory in Washington on Tuesday when a congressional subcommittee voted to keep funding a military jet engine partially made by a local company.
-
Tax-exempt status at risk for Valley groups
Small nonprofit organizations throughout the Wabash Valley now risk losing their tax-exempt status if they fail to make an electronic filing by Oct. 15, under a one-time relief program from the Internal Revenue Service.
-
Brazil woman jailed after allegedly using brick as weapon
A Brazil woman has been arrested for allegedly hitting another woman in the head with a brick in a dispute over a girlfriend.
-
Red Cross launches fundraising drive
With an extremely active hurricane season looming, an oil spill in the Gulf that could make matters even worse, and local disasters such as floods, wind storms and home fires, the American Red Cross Wabash Valley Chapter has launched a new disaster relief fundraising drive.
-
June home invasion suspect caught
Police have arrested one of the two remaining suspects in an alleged attempted home invasion in late June in southern Vigo County.
-
Vigo County to offer employee buyouts
The Vigo County Council voted 6-1 on Tuesday to offer a buyout package to more than a dozen county employees in order to reduce the county’s work force and save money.
-
City working to start parks foundation
Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett hopes the establishment of a tax-deductible municipal park foundation will enable people to donate or bequeath money to support improvement projects in city parks and also cover maintenance expenses.
-
Infant’s cause of death determined
Asphyxiation secondary to co-sleeping has been listed as the cause of death for a 6-week-old baby who died July 15 in West Terre Haute.
- More Local & Bistate Headlines
-
