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SOLDIERS OF V CORPS' 2/6TH INFANTRY GET EMOTIONAL WELCOME HOME FROM IRAQ

Army News Service

Release Date: 3/25/2004

By Spc. Jeanine Kinville 1st Armored Division Public Affairs Office

WIESBADEN, Germany -- Faces covered with anxious looks filled the Hall of Champions Gymnasium in Baumholder, Germany as family members and friends waited for their Soldiers from V Corps' Company C, 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment to march into the gym March 19, home from their yearlong deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"I am very excited," said Amanda Guthrie, wife of Staff Sgt. Tim Guthrie. "There are mixed emotions right now, because I don't know what to expect."

Angelina Brumbaugh, wife of Cpl. Nathan Brumbaugh, came with her sons Nathan Jr. and Jared to greet their father after his long trip away from home. To prepare for the arrival the family decorated the house with balloons and banners.

"I'm nervous because I haven't seen him in a year," said Brumbaugh. "This is the longest we have ever been apart."

Outside the gym, weary but excited Soldiers stepped off a bus to greetings from their fellow troops. They rushed into a formation with an extra bounce in their step, readying themselves to march into that long-awaited homecoming ceremony.

"You guys are heroes," said Capt. Ryan Bromenschenkle, the 2/6th's rear detachment commander.

Blaring music, thunderous applause and piercing yells erupted as the "Iron Soldiers" marched into the gym. Families could barely contain themselves as they crowded the stands. Children searched the formation for their fathers as they nervously waited for the short ceremony to end.

When the Soldiers were finally dismissed, the two groups rushed to meet each other in a clash of embraces.

Amanda Guthrie rushed into her husband's open arms and the couple immediately joined in a long kiss. Locked in each other's embrace, tears began to flow. They spoke very little.

"We are just going to sit at home and stare at each other," said Amanda. The boys greeted their father with hugs and kisses as their mother beamed contentedly.

Nearby, Angelina Brumbaugh and her boys reunited with their husband and father with the same outpouring of emotion, and Kassie and Skyler Lemaitre latched onto their father, Cpl. Anthony Lemaitre, and stuck to his legs like glue. "I missed my dad a lot," said their brother, Timmy.

The Soldiers of Company C are the first wave from the Baumholder area to return from Operation Iraqi Freedom, and some of the very first from V Corps' 1st Armored Division to come home. The unit, which provided security for the corps' main headquarters, deployed in March 2003.