AUGUSTA – Among a long line of soldiers in desert uniforms, Sgt. Randall Jones clutched a commemorative flag in a wooden box and smiled when he heard his family’s whoop amid the Augusta Civic Center crowd.
The flag presentation and Sunday’s “Freedom Salute” ceremony – celebrating the service in Iraq by the 133rd Engineer Battalion – was an honor, Jones said.
Yet, he’s ready for the welcome-homes to be over.
“Maybe, this will be the last one,” said Jones, who lives in West Paris. It’s time to move on.
In a way, that’s what the whole weekend was about for the battalion’s soldiers.
On Saturday, the nearly 500 men and women gathered at armories around Maine for their first drill weekend since returning home in March. Much of the day was spent going through their equipment, some of it still caked with Iraqi dust.
“There was no way we could get rid of the dust while we were there,” said Capt. Michael Mitchell. He commands the battalion’s Charlie Company, based in Lewiston and Norway.
Seeing buddies
For those members of the National Guard, the first day back was a reunion, too. Several said they tried to avoid each other when they first came home, spending their time instead with spouses and children and getting back to their jobs.
The reunion continued on Sunday, as the battalion gathered outside the civic center with their companies.
“I call it Old Home Days'” Sgt. Robert Smith of Mechanic Falls, standing in line with the people he served with for more than 11 months in Iraq.
Then, they walked into the civic center.
In the auditorium, more than 1,500 people stood and clapped in time with, “As the Army Goes Rolling Along.”
Once the soldiers were inside and seated, the speeches began. Gov. John Baldacci, Rep. Michael Michaud and others called them “heroes.”
The men and women were congratulated for completing 877 missions: building roads, clinics and shelters across Iraq’s three northernmost provinces.
The commemorative flags were awarded to each soldier. Flags were also given to the families of the four battalion members who died: Spc. Christopher Gelineau, Sgt. Thomas Dostie and Staff Sgt. Lynn Poulin died in Iraq; Sgt. 1st Class Michael Jones died only days after his return to the United States.
42 Purple Hearts
The celebration was bittersweet, said Col. John Jensen, who commands the battalion. Every soldier ought to be proud of the work they did, he said.
Often, though, he thinks of the bad times.
“The hardest thing for me to ever do was to pin the first Purple Heart,” Jensen told the crowd. “I never imagined there would be 42 of them.”
Gen. Bill Libby, who leads the Maine National Guard, asked each soldier to ask themselves how they are adjusting to life at home.
It’s normal to feel different, he said. Libby said he still feels the effects of his service in Vietnam.
“My transition is still a work in progress,” he told the group. He returned home in 1969. “You’ll carry this with you for the rest of your life, and that’s also normal.”
Find someone to talk with, he said. Life can be happy and successful back home. Each soldier can find peace with the difficult memories.
“(They) need not get in the way of your dreams,” Libby said.
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