National Guard Troops Return to New York

[Rose Siding]

FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- With family members cheering, more than 700 National Guard soldiers were welcomed home in an emotional ceremony after a 15-month tour of duty, including more than nine months on the ground in Iraq.

Dressed in desert fatigues, members of the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry of the New York Army National Guard marched into MaGrath Gymnasium at Fort Drum, and came to a halt.
...
"Look at these kids' faces," said Maguire, who heads the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs....

Not all made it back alive. Three soldiers -- 21-year-old Spc. Nathan Brown of Glens Falls, 27-year-old Sgt. Michael Uvanni of Rome, and Spc. Segun Frederick Akintade, 34, of New York City -- were killed in the line of duty.

Brown's parents sat in the front row at Sunday's ceremony, fighting back tears as Maguire praised them for making the "ultimate sacrifice."

"He ain't coming home, it's pretty hard, but I'm proud of him," Rick Brown said of his son. "We're here for the other guys. They were Nate's friends, I was glad to have them as my son's friends. I'm glad to see they all came home."

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-soldiers-return,0,3957984.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[rkc3]

1. I hope they were greeted with flowers. Be nice for it to happen at least

once for these guys.

[justinsb]

2. Later this month

a court will decide if Canada will grant political assylum to US military deserters. Hopefully long before any of these guys are sent back - it is, after all, only a 4-5 hour drive to the border.