LISA CASSIDY/GateHouse News Service Sgt. First Class Robert Shields of Holbrook jokes with his grandson, Brandon Holvert, 5, at the National Guard Armory in Wellesley on Friday. Shields and his unit, the 151st Regional Support Group of the National Guard, returned from Iraq.
By Dan Mcdonald Gatehouse News Service Posted May 03, 2008 @ 02:00 AM
WELLESLEY — There was no dust. No gunfire. No explosions. There was, however, flag-waving loved ones, green grass, television crews and a spread of pasta, chicken wings, and egg salad sandwiches. After more than a year providing security to Victory Base in Iraq, the troops of the 151st Regional Support Group of the National Guard were home. In the parking lot of the National Guard Armory at 14 Minuteman Lane on Friday, relatives and friends swarmed two buses carrying the soldiers. Tears were shed. Babies were kissed. And amid all the hugs and handshakes, relief was the prevailing theme.
LISA CASSIDY/GateHouse News Service Master Sgt. Roy Aylward of Brockton is surrounded by family at the National Guard Armory in Wellesley after returning from Iraq. His family remodeled his kitchen while he was away.
“We tried not to watch the news,” said Marie Williams, wife of Master Sgt. Chris Williams. It was Williams’ second deployment to Iraq. He has been away from his wife, sons Nick, 14, and Sean, 11, and his Hanover home for 33 out of the last 48 months. “It’ll be good to sit back and relax with the family,” said Williams. “Have a glass of wine and take off the boots.” Mary Decasse, whose husband, Neil, was among the two busloads of soldiers that pulled into the armory, said, “It’s the end of a long 14 months.” Born in Bellingham and currently living in Woonsocket, R.I., Decasse plans to take a month off, tour Clark University, where his 18-year-old daughter studies, and enjoy the fickle New England weather for a change. “It was 110 (degrees) when we left,” he said. “That’s not that bad. Last summer it got to be 135.” Reflecting on the conflict he just left, Lt. Col. Dan Knight of Franklin called the troop surge a difference-maker and said progress had been made toward the stabilization of Iraq. Knight has more immediate concerns, however, namely finding his 22-year-old daughter Jennifer a new car and securing Red Sox tickets. “I’m going to enjoy the quiet,” he said. Master Sgt. Dave Sims of Natick, flanked by his daughter, Danielle, and wife Margie, pondered one sight that he sorely missed in the Middle East. “It’s nice to see green grass again,” said Sims. “It was a hard 14 months, but it was something my husband had to do,” said Margie Sims. Thirty-one years into his National Guard tenure, Brockton resident Roy Aylward returned from Iraq to a refurbished abode. “I’m ready to see my brand-new kitchen my whole family built while I was away,” said Aylward, as he was surrounded by nieces and nephews. Asked the first thing he would do upon returning to his Holbrook home, Robert Shields, a technician in the Guard who was standing by his family, said, “Probably have a beer.”
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