Medical soldiers serving in Iraq get warm homecoming
BEDFORD - They bandaged gunshot wounds and performed emergency surgery on blast victims. So it's no surprise the contingent of medical soldiers returning from Iraq yesterday yearned for nothing more than family time and some New England staples.
"All I want is a Dunkin' Donuts coffee," Captain Gayle Nowak, a nurse from Worcester, said, embracing her 8-year-old daughter, Maria. "We're going to go home this afternoon and go swimming."
Teary-eyed family members cheered and waved small American flags as the 73 Army reservists stepped off a chartered plane at Hanscom Air Force Base yesterday afternoon. The 405th Combat Support Hospital, based in West Hartford, Conn., deployed a year ago to join the 325th Combat Support Hospital out of Independence, Mo. The soldiers treated patients at medical centers in Tikrit and Al Asad.
Staff Sergeant Robert Carroll of Taunton dropped his duffle bags and threw his arms around his wife, Lorilee, before hoisting his 5-year-old daughter, Amber, in the air and kissing her cheek. His son Robert Jr., 13, painted "Welcome Home" and "Dad" in red, white, and blue on each side of his partially shaved head. His father was less impressed with the mohawk running down the middle.
"Your mother must have let you do that, huh?" the father said. Another son Shawn, 9, showed his father how to tickle his 9-month-old brother, Kevin, sitting in a stroller. It was just the second time Robert Carroll had seen his young son since deploying; he came home six months ago for a short break.
General Oscar DePriest - commander of the Ayer, Mass.-based 804th Medical Brigade, responsible for medical units in New England - greeted his soldiers on the tarmac as they unloaded their luggage from the plane's cargo hold. DePriest said the men and women, most of whom completed their first tour of duty, treated mostly bullet and shrapnel wounds.
The returning group voted not to have a welcoming ceremony, a first since DePriest, a Bedford dentist, became a general six years ago.
Major Matthew Kelleher, who managed electronic medical records while in Iraq, met his father, Bob, who planned to take his son out for lunch. Kelleher, of Waltham, said the unit elected for a quick greeting so they could spend the day with their families.
Reservists have played an active role in the Iraq war since it began in 2003, and about 40 percent of troops there are reservists, said Lieutenant Colonel Sam Poulten, spokesman for the unit and an Iraqi veteran. That's higher than in any other conflict, he said, adding that about three-quarters of the medical corps are now reserves.
The majority of the soldiers returning home yesterday live in Connecticut, but some hail from other New England states and New York. They won't be deployed again for at least two years, unless they volunteer, Poulten said.
Even if Nowak decided to return, it was clear yesterday her daughter wasn't letting her go anywhere. As Nowak walked toward her duffle bag, Maria pulled her arm and said: "No, no, no. You're staying with me."
Nowak's parents, Gaylord and Joan Viner, as well as her brother, Neil Viner, welcomed the avid Boston sports fan back to Massachusetts on the day of the Celtics' championship parade.
Neil Viner said the first thing he wanted to do with his sister was enjoy a lobster dinner together. He said he gave up the New England favorite a year ago when she left.
Christopher Baxter can be reached at cbaxter@globe.com.
