52 from 1st AD lead the way in Wiesbaden return

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52 from 1st AD lead the way in Wiesbaden return
By Matt Millham, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Thursday, November 13, 2008

WIESBADEN, Germany — Priming the stage for a scene that will play out many times during the next month, 52 soldiers of the 1st Armored Division’s Special Troops Battalion marched into a gym full of bellowing friends and family Wednesday, ending a nearly 14-month deployment to Iraq.

It was a small-scale version of the welcome homes to come, filled with emotion as soldiers reunited with loved ones they hadn’t seen in months.

Spc. Chris Zavaskis, a member of the battalion’s 146th Signal Company, got home "just in the nick of time," he said, gripping his wife, Amanda. She’s due in two weeks to give birth to their second daughter — an unexpected but welcome gift conceived during Zavaskis’ midtour leave.

"I’m so excited. They were able to pull some strings to get me here to see the birth of my new baby," he said.

Most of the soldiers who returned alongside Zavaskis will get things up and running over the coming weeks to ease the transition for the bulk of the division headquarters, which is expected to begin streaming in by the planeload just before Thanksgiving.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58794