Soldier home

The image above appears in the Baton Rouge Advocate today. It shows my brother-in-law, Chief Warrant Officer Mike Leming, as he got off the plane in Baton Rouge yesterday and greeted his family. In the photo is my sister Ruthie, their daughters Hannah (the tall blonde) and Claire. Little Rebekah is not in the photo because she's clinging to her daddy's leg.

Mike is home! Thanks be to God! From the newspaper story:

"Everyone here with me said I could hug Mike first," said Ruthie Leming as she waited with a crowd of family and friends for her husband, Chief Warrant Officer Mike Leming, to arrive.

Part of the group waiting to see Leming were members of the Baton Rouge Fire Department where Leming is a firefighter when not on Guard duty. They brought the seven firetrucks as a way to welcome him home.

"I've been worried about him," Ruthie Leming said of her husband as tears welled up in her eyes. "We've been together since I was 15. He's my best friend. I just want him to come home and I just want to hold him."

Leming's three daughters also waited patiently with the crowds.

"This is sort of surreal," said Hannah Leming, 15. "I've seen my dad on a Webcam for a year and now I'm finally going to really see him. I am just so happy and excited. I'm going to tell him I love him and he's been gone way too long."

For Mike Leming, the deployment was long and stressful at times.

"We had to build a concrete barrier in Sadr City," Leming said. "Those were some of the worst moments for me. It took seven weeks. We worked on it at night because that was the safest time to do the work, but they still shot at us."

Still, Leming said he was happy to have served his country. "But I'm also happy to be at home," he said.

On the drive home to Starhill from the airport, the last two miles of country road were festooned with yellow ribbons members of the community hung from trees and fenceposts. When they reached the driveway, they saw a police car had blocked the road, which was filled with neighborhood children waving "Welcome home" signs. About 150 people from the community -- family and friends -- lined the gravel road to cheer for Mike and welcome him home. The local volunteer firefighters had their two trucks there by the road, and used their water cannon to create an arch for him to drive under, in salute. It was quite a homecoming.

Mike comes home wearing a Bronze Star for meritorious service. He and his engineering battalion did incredible work, under very adverse conditions. Mike also worked with some soldiers from West Virginia, about whom he can't stop talking. Friends for life, him and the Black Diamonds.

Here's a neat story that I can tell now that he's home. A few months ago, my sister Ruthie ran a race in Baton Rouge. The number she was assigned was 709. Weeks later, Mike mailed home for her scrapbook the number he'd been assigned in a race he competed in in Iraq. It too was 709.

What an incredible coincidence, my sister thought. "That means he's going to come home on July 9," said my mother.

Which was rather unlikely, given that Mike and his men weren't scheduled to leave Iraq till August. Still, my mother was sure of it. She believed that was a sign.

Last week, Ruthie got a phone call from Mike. His unit, which had already transferred to Kuwait, had departed unexpectedly early. He was phoning from Maine. He was back in the United States, safe.

Of course, it was July 9.

For all the prayers said for Mike and Ruthie and the girls, for all the candles lit, for all the good wishes from all of you on behalf of my family, I say: Thank you. And above all, thanks be to God for Mike's safe home. May all our soldiers return likewise.

Whatever you think about this war, it must be remembered that it's being fought -- and not always fought (Mike and his men are engineers) -- by men and women who may or may not agree with the war, but who promised to go if their country called, and who are honoring that promise. It's also being fought on the home front by families like my sister and her girls, in their way. That photo above shows what this war on the home front is all about, I think. Again, whatever one's opinion about the war, I think we can all -- I think we all must -- keep in mind the bonds of love that are being tried hard by this conflict, and pray and do whatever we can to strengthen those military families who are being tested in ways that most of us are not.

UPDATE: My sister called just now to say I'd gotten the 709 story slightly wrong. Mike didn't mail his race number home from Iraq; he brought it with him when he came home at Easter for a break, which is when they discovered they'd been given the same number. The Crunchy Con blog regrets the error.