Marines get warm homecoming
After difficulty comes ease.
So after seven months of sidestepping possible death while serving in Iraq, the 69 members of local Marine Corps Reserve Unit, Company A, Anti Terrorism Battalion, returned Wednesday to the Marine Corps Reserve Center on Paul Road in Chili, casually dressed in civilian clothes.
Lance Cpl. Demetrius Simmons, 20, of Rochester was greeted by six family members.
“It feels good to be home. It was a long time over there,” he said.
“I’m glad that he went and came back safely,” said his mom, Eula Simmons.
“It’s great to have him back. He’s been gone way too long,” said his sister Angela Simmons.
The battalion left Rochester in January for training at Camp Pendleton in California before being deployed to Iraq in April.
While based at Camp Al-Taqaddum, southwest of Bagdad, troops provided security for convoys of troops, supplies and equipment across western Iraq, and helped provide security as part of a battalion initiative that helps secure Iraqi borders.
“The feeling of gratification knowing that every single one of them being safe and sound is beyond words. They did an outstanding job,” said company commanding officer Major Kevin Saunders of East Irondequoit.
Saunders, who retuned home to greet wife Julie, 33, and eight-month-old daughter Hannah, wasn’t the only father returning to a newborn.
Cpl. Christopher Langswager of Hilton returned to see six-week-old daughter Rayme for the first time and said he was experiencing sensory overload.
“She’s a lot smaller than I thought she’d be. She looks like a little doll. She’s pretty cute, I’ve got to say.”
GMCLENDN@DemocratandChronicle.com
