1st AD homecoming at Wiesbaden has air of celebration

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Sgt. 1st Class Melvin Bautista gets a big kiss from his wife, Katie, following his return to Wiesbaden Army Airfield Tuesday afternoon. Bautista and 78 other 1st Armored Division soldiers returned from deployment to Iraq, with more troops due to return over the next few weeks.


1st AD homecoming at Wiesbaden has air of celebration
By Steve Mraz, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Thursday, November 27, 2008

WIESBADEN, Germany — The homecoming of the first soldiers with the main body of the 1st Armored Division headquarters was a sensory overload Tuesday afternoon.

The smell of perfume hovered around wives anxiously waiting on the bleachers at the Wiesbaden Fitness Center.

The sound of a hissing smoke machine signaled the entrance of the soldiers who had just completed a roughly 15-month tour in Iraq.

The sight of 79 soldiers striding through the hazy smoke and standing in formation ignited the friends and family members in the crowd.

The touch of reunited families hugging and kissing marked the culmination of the homecoming.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59088