Thursday, 4:30 PM
After seven months in Fallujah, local Marines return home
(Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff)
Family members today mobbed Sergeant Brian Vitale, one of 450 Marines who returned to Massachusetts after seven months in Iraq.
By Globe Staff
Some 450 Marines dressed in desert-colored fatigues were rushed by family and friends this morning at Fort Devens after serving seven months in Iraq.
The Marines were from the 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment out of Fort Pendleton, Calif.
As buses carrying the soldiers drove the final few miles to Fort Devens this morning, relatives waited eagerly, clutching American flags and holding young children.
The troops filed off the buses and fell into formation. The families cheered and ran into their arms.
"We're so happy and so lucky that he's coming home safe, because so many are not. We're feeling very fortunate," said Marie DeLuca of Quincy, the aunt of Lance Corporal Michael Sullivan, 25, also of Quincy.
The Marines had been stationed in Fallujah, where 11 members of their unit were killed.
