'Freedom Salute' welcomes D.C. Guard unit home
Army News Service
Release Date: 4/28/2004
By Spc. Lorie Jewell
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Army News Service, April 28, 2004) - Mixed emotions ebbed and flowed through a 'Freedom Salute' ceremony commemorating the return of the D.C. National Guard's 547th Transportation Company from a yearlong tour in Iraq.
Plenty of welcome home posters, yellow ribbons, and American flags decorated the armory, where more than 100 family members, friends, military and government officials gathered April 27 to honor the unit and other members of the Guard who have been called to service since Sept. 11, 2001. Hugs and handshakes abounded.
But the joy and relief of being back on home turf was tempered with the absence of Spc. Darryl Dent, 21, who died Aug. 26 when an improvised explosive device hit the 5-ton truck he was in not far from Baghdad. Dent was part of a convoy was providing security for a mail run.
Brig. Gen. Errol Schwartz, deputy commanding general of the D.C. Guard, congratulated the roughly 150 Soldiers for doing a fine job in Iraq, thanked family members for the great job they did in holding things together on the home front, and asked for a moment of silence for Dent. The crowd then gave Dent's father, Vernon, a standing ovation.
While in Iraq, unit members were involved in more than 1,200 combat missions and put more than 564,000 miles on unit vehicles; conducted more than 100 raids with the 82nd Airborne Division, rounding up about 600 Saddam Hussein loyalists; relocated the 28th Combat Support Hospital from a forward logistics base to downtown Iraq; and escorted more than 1.4 billion pounds of mail throughout Iraq.
In addition to Schwartz, Soldiers were congratulated, thanked, and welcomed home by their commanding general, Maj. Gen. David Wherley Jr., Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.
As part of the 'Freedom Salute' campaign, which recognizes National Guard Soldiers who have been called to duty, each Soldier was presented with an American flag in a wood display case, a Defender of Freedom certificate, and commemorative coins and medallions. A concert by the 257th Army Band and country singer Keith Bryant followed the ceremony.
Spc. James Pelzer appreciated the recognition, especially having the flag to take home.
"I was going to go buy one like this,'' said Pelzer, with his wife, Melba, close by. "Now I don't have to. It's going on top of the television set in our living room, so I can look at it every day."
While Spc. Dwayne Frost was picking up his memorabilia, his teenage son, Dwayne Jr., held tight to a handmade "Welcome Home' and chatted with cousins Rosslyn and Rhonda Frost. Having his dad home is an overdue relief, Frost Jr. said.
"It feels like he's been gone for a long time,'' he sighed.
In the two weeks since the unit returned, the Frosts have learned to breathe easy again.
"Hakuna Matata!" quipped Rosslyn Frost, quoting a song verse from "The Lion King."
No worries. Not now.
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