Troops return to U.S. from Afghan war

Posted 7:28AM on Saturday 6th April 2002 ( 23 years ago )

FORT DRUM, N.Y. - With souvenirs in tow and family reunions awaiting them, the first large contingent of soldiers from the Army 10th Mountain Division returned home after six months on the front lines of the war on terrorism. The 253 members of the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment touched down Friday at 5:10 p.m. at Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield. They had spent several days in Germany before making the final seven-hour flight Friday - a trip highlighted by a lot of ``whooping and hollering,'' said Staff Sgt. Robert Celedon of Dade City, Fla. ``It's a wonderful feeling to be back on U.S. soil,'' Celedon said. ``It was a great feeling doing our part as Americans, knowing what happened in New York City and Washington.'' Celedon, a 10-year Army veteran who previously served in Somalia, Haiti and Bosnia, had a special treat waiting for him on his return. While he was away, his son - now 4 months old - was born. ``I've seen his picture but in a few hours I will get to hold him for the first time,'' he said. The 10th Mountain soldiers, the allies' main fighting force in the Afghan campaign, began heading home Tuesday from Bagram, a former Soviet base about an hour north of Kabul. Before they left, soldiers described the souvenirs they had packed: traditional Afghan pancake hats - called pacouls - blankets, scarves and dress uniforms traded with soldiers from other countries. After arriving on U.S. soil, they were greeted by Brig. Gen. Thomas Goedkoop and inspected by Customs and Agriculture Department officials. The soldiers then boarded buses to go see their loved ones, who were waiting at battalion headquarters several miles away. Brent MacArthur and his wife, Noreen, drove seven hours from Arundal, Maine, to greet their son Timothy. They waited outside the airfield's main gate with balloons and a ``Welcome Home'' sign. ``We are proud of him. We are proud of all the men and women and what they've done for our country,'' Brent MacArthur said. In Savannah, Ga., meanwhile, about 200 Rangers from Hunter Army Airfield returned from their three-month deployment in Afghanistan, where three of their number were killed March 4 when their MH-47 Chinook helicopter went down. The Rangers from the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment left late in December for Operation Enduring Freedom. Sgt. Ryan Cleckner of Phoenix said he enjoyed fighting against members of the Taliban and al-Qaida. ``Some people wait their whole careers to go into combat, and I got to go before the end of my first enlistment,'' he said. ``You can only train for the game so long before you want to play in it.'' At Ft. Drum, Staff Sgt. Rick Rickman, 34, of Syracuse described the mood on the commercial airliner that brought the soldiers back home as ``elation.'' Rickman, while waiting to see his wife and two children, admitted that returning to civilization was ``a little weird. We are coming from living with nothing to all this technology and people.'' Two Fort Drum battalions, ordered to Central Asia for the U.S. military action launched October 7, fought in Operation Anaconda in March, battling al-Qaida and Taliban fighters during the two-week long campaign in the Shah-e-Kot mountains in eastern Afghanistan. Neither unit lost a soldier to hostile fire but 25 were injured. Goedkoop said the bulk of 10th Mountain Division troops now in Afghanistan would be coming home within the month. A group of 27 arrived Thursday and another 140 are scheduled to arrive Saturday.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/4/202553