Photo By Sgt. Philip Klein | (From left) Fred Jones, his wife Marge, and Bernice Seymore, members of the Catholic...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas — The Soldiers and family members of the 4th have been welcoming home their own as the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade redeploys from Baghdad and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Beginning June 2 flights carrying 4th CAB Soldiers have been landing at Robert Gray Army Airfield reuniting 1951 Soldiers with their families, friends and comrades.
During their 12-month deployment, the 4th CAB served with the 4th Infantry Division and the 1st Cavalry Division in Multi-National Division — Baghdad.
The highlight of any welcome home ceremony is the reuniting of families with their Soldiers, many of whom have missed a year or more in the lives of their children. For some Soldiers however the distance to home is too great to permit families to greet them when they return.
For Sgt. Eric Pao Pao, whose family is in Hawaii and could not make the trip to see his return after the brigades deployment, his local church stepped in to make sure he had a warm welcome. Fred Jones, his wife Marge, and Bernice Seymore, members of the Catholic 58th St. Chapel were there for Pao Pao as he walked off of Cameron Field.
"It's great to have someone here to greet you off the plane, and it means a lot to have members of my church here to see [me] come home," said Pao Pao
"It is the least we could do to make sure that he is welcomed home after his tour of duty," said Jones. "Of course his family would have been here if it wasn't for the great distance they would have to travel, but we are happy to welcome him home on their behalf."
"He has sacrificed for our country and community and for us to come out here and welcome him home is no big deal," said Seymore. "Anyway he is a member of our church family so we are glad to welcome him back, and are grateful he has comeback safe."
The senior enlisted leader for the 4th CAB, Command Sgt.Maj. Archie Davis is also grateful to have the brigade home safe.
"The bottom line is that leader engagement from the highest level to the lowest level resulted in safe and efficient operations during the deployment," said Davis. "Seven days a week we had 75 percent of our fleet in operation and thanks to our training, dicipline and the grace of God, we never lost a Soldiers or an aircraft."
| Date Taken: | 06.08.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 06.08.2009 18:22 |
| Story ID: | 34740 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 602 |
| Downloads: | 557 |
This work, Nearly 2,000 4th Infantry Division Soldiers return home, by SGT Philip Klein, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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