Return of the 277th Maintenance Company in Kennesaw, Georgia
(as always please keep our troops that are still serving in your prayers)
Members of Kennesaw’s 277th Maintenance Company and their friends smile for a group photo after having stepped off buses that returned the unit home, Sunday, April 25, 2004. More than 95 Soldiers of the 277th spent 14 months in Kuwait supporting coalition forces and Operation Iraqi Freedom. ( Georgia National Guard photo by Sgt. Roy Henry)
When the Soldiers of Kennesaw’s 277th Maintenance Company passed through the gate of their armory in February 2003, families, friends and supporters lined the main drive waving “Old Glory” and shouting, “We’ll miss you, and we love you, please come home safe.”
A little more than a year later, the scene was much the same. This time, however, the banners said “Welcome Home!” the tears being shed by families were happy ones and the shouts by friends and supporters resounded long and loud with “Good to have you home, we’re so proud of you!”
Members of the 277th returned home to this hero’s welcome, Sunday, April 25, 2004. During their 14-month deployment to Kuwait, these Citizen-Soldiers conducted force protection as well maintenance missions in support of coalition forces and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“They have everything in the world to be proud of,” said Capt. Bobby Brookshire, the unit commander, after stepping of one of three buses and being greeted by his wife and son. “These wonderful, professional, dedicated Soldiers did everything that was asked of them and more.
“They deserve the praise being given them, now and in the future,” he added. “They brought pride and honor on their state and on their country.”
Long before the buses that carried the 277th from Fort Benning in Columbus to Kennesaw, arrived, family members and others were hard at work that morning getting ready for the homecoming. Loved ones like Austin Worden, son of 1st Lt. Greg Worden, and Carolyn Warren-Gray, wife of Staff Sgt. Daryl Gray, lined westbound lane of Chastain Road with American flags and balloons.
“Every flag we plant is just one more reminder of how proud we are of them, that they did the right thing,” Warren-Gray said. “It’s very important that we let them know that, even as we let them know how much we missed them and that we’re glad to have them home.”
Back at the armory, families such as the one that waited for Sgt. Cliff Fain waited found a spot close to the gate so they could greet the convoy as it entered the armory grounds. Among those waiting inside the gate on Fain to arrive were his sister Loretta, his mother Hilda, his sister-in-law Deborah and two nieces Ansley Griner and Megan Fain. Outside the gate keeping watch for the convoy to come up the road were his daughter Hannah and his sister Julie Fain-Griner.
“We’re all so excited dad’s finally coming home,” Hannah said as she shaded her eyes from the sun and looked down Chastain Road for a sign that the convoy from Columbus was nearing. “And as much as we’re glad he’s coming back to us, we’re just as happy to have the whole unit back.”
When the convoy did arrive, it was to the reverberation of police sirens and the rumble of engines from the 400-motorcycle escort given the Soldiers by 400 riders, many of them military veterans, from across the state.
The throng of families and supporters surrounded the buses after they stopped in the unit motor pool. As soldiers stepped off onto home soil for the first time in a year, loved ones and friends seeking to greet them overwhelmed them.
“It was so good to get off that bus and find so many people waiting to welcome us back,” said Spc. Cynthia Lockhart. “I didn’t know whether to cry, be happy or do both.”
All through the motor pool the sentiment was the same.
Sergeant 1st Class Kenny Scott, Spc. Emanuel Smith and Spc. David Collado, everyone from Soldier to family member to friend echoed Lockhart’s statement. They were glad to finally be home and in the arms of those they missed.
As 1st Sgt. George Thompson watched the scene that played out before him, he said his Soldiers really deserved the pats on the back, the hearty handshakes and the “thanks for what you do.”
“These folks have really gone the extra mile to get the job done, do it right and get back home,” Thompson said with a smile.
Now that the 277th has come home, its Soldiers will be spending a few weeks getting reacquainted with their families, getting back some resemblance of normalcy in their live, he went on. That will include, at some point, getting back to training and getting for the next mission, when, where and whatever it may be.
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