Friday, September 11, 2009 10:28 PM CDT
Citizen soldiers return home to Sullivan, too
By HUEY FREEMAN, Staff Writer
hfreeman@herald-review.com
SULLIVAN -- Stephanie Austin was a high school freshman eight years ago, when hijackers shocked the world by crashing fully loaded passenger planes into office buildings filled with innocent people.
“It seems like forever ago,” said Sgt. Austin, 22, after returning to Sullivan on Friday with her Illinois Army National Guard unit, after serving a tour in Afghanistan. “It’s kind of amazing we’re still there.”
Austin, a University of Illinois student who joined the Guard more than five years ago, especially enjoyed the hero’s welcome that an enthusiastic hometown crowd rolled out for about 40 members of the Headquarters Company, 634th Brigade Support Battalion.
Children, who had been let out of school especially for the occasion, lined the streets between the downtown square and the National Guard Armory, located across the football field from Sullivan High School. Poles along the route carrying the two busloads of soldiers were festooned with U.S. flags and yellow ribbons.
The soldiers, deployed for one year, including nine months in Afghanistan, arrived at the Armory behind an escort of police cars, a fire engine and ambulance, all with flashing emergency lights. Walls of the armory’s drill floor were covered with welcome home banners signed by hundreds of children.
Austin, who performed clerical duties and served as a driver for the battalion commander during her tour, said that Sullivan was celebrating the successful homecoming of the 634th, after enduring the recent death of Sgt. Gerrick Smith.
Smith, 19, a member of the Illinois National Guard’s 130th Infantry Regiment, died in Afghanistan on July 29 in a non-combat related accident.
“I went to high school with Gerrick, and I saw him in Afghanistan,” Austin said.
Friday was a day of celebration throughout the state, as members of the 634th were also welcomed home in armories in Mattoon, Champaign, Springfield, Mount Vernon, Galva and Crestwood.
The 634th provided support for soldiers throughout the theater, including supplies, medical help and security. The unit was also in charge of base operations and security for Camp Phoenix, base for Joint Task Force Phoenix, in the capital city of Kabul.
The 634th served as part of the 3,000-strong 33rd Brigade Combat Team, the largest deployment of Illinois National Guard soldiers since World War II. That combat team formed the Task Force Phoenix VII, charged mainly with training and mentoring the Afghan National Army and Police.
Lt. Col. Eric Little, battalion commander of the 634th, said it was an awesome welcome home, with police escorts and flags hanging from overpasses since they entered the state from Wisconsin.
Little said the battalion, whose members worked 18 to 19 hours a day, played a pivotal role during an important transition time of the war.
“The war is going well,” Little said. “The Afghan armed forces are taking more control. Everything we did, we made sure they were out front. The Afghan people want them to succeed.”
The 634th suffered one fatality, Sgt. Simone Robinson, 21, of Robbins, who died March 1 after she was severely wounded in a suicide bomb attack in January. A moment of silence was requested at the ceremony for the single mother of a 2-year-old daughter.
But the mood was generally joyous in the armory, as soldiers broke ranks after a brief ceremony to embrace family members, some of whom they had not seen since the deployment began.
First Sgt. Jeff Kroll, 46, was greeted by his wife, mother and three sons, including two who also serve in the National Guard.
Kroll, a Bethany resident who has served in the Guard for 22 years, was charged with taking care of his soldiers and overseeing numerous construction projects, designed to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. Kroll put local contractors to work building schools, medical clinics and wells for people living near the base and in outlying areas.
“We did a lot of humanitarian aid work also,” Kroll said, explaining that food, clothing and school supplies shipped in from the United States and elsewhere was distributed by his unit.
“It was very rewarding, because every time we went out to the villages, the children put their thumbs up,” Kroll said.
This was Kroll’s third deployment. During his previous deployment, in Iraq from 2006 to ‘07, his son, Brandon, now 25, served with him.
Jeff Kroll’s wife, Brenda, recalled that she told Brandon at that time, “You’re not going to Iraq unless Dad goes with you.”
Jeff Kroll almost connected with his middle son, Blake Kroll, 22, during his most recent deployment. A member of the Air National Guard, Blake served as a crew chief on a refueling jet which was in Kyrgyzstan, northeast of Afghanistan. When Jeff Kroll arrived at the base, hoping to see his son, he just saw his plane, with the Illinois flag on the tail, as it flew away.
Brenda Kroll, who has endured five overseas deployments by her husband and sons, said this was the best welcome home she has seen in a long time.
“The soldiers need it,” she said. “We have to show them we really care.”
The family of Maj. Chris Lewis, 41, of Toledo, was out in force Friday, with many wearing red, custom-made T-shirts, proclaiming “Welcome Home Dad” or “Welcome Home Chris.” A bronze star formed the “o” in Major Lewis on the back of the shirts, to mark the award he recently received.
His daughter, Jennifer, 17, said it was hard to endure her father’s absence, but the family is really happy because he’s back now.
“It just feels great, because he’s our hero,” Jennifer said.
hfreeman@herald-review.com|421-6985
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
|
|
|
