Families welcome soldiers home at Drum gym

FORT DRUM — The Super Bowl was far from the minds of some 10th Mountain Division soldiers with the 57th Transportation Company, 10th Sustainment Brigade on Sunday night.

Enjoying quiet time with family was the wish for many, as they were welcomed home from a 15-month deployment to Iraq, where they were stationed at Camp Liberty, Baghdad.

"It's great to be home," Sgt. Vaughn D. Michaud Sr. said, as he hugged two of his sons, Vaughn D. Jr., 2, and Andre R., 1.

Sgt. Michaud, Watertown, was one of about 160 soldiers who were welcomed home Sunday night in Magrath Sports Complex on post. Waiting for him was his wife, Tiffany D., stepson Quinton J. Chisolm, 5, and daughter, Makayla M., who turns 6 months old today. Mrs. Michaud said her eldest daughter, Aiyuanna M. Chisolm, 8, was with a relative.

Mrs. Michaud said each deployment gets a little easier.

"I just want to give him a kiss and go to sleep," she said Sunday night. "I haven't gotten much sleep this deployment. I'm used to it, though, because it's like this every other year."

Lindsey M. Starts, 19, Canton, said getting her 2-year-old daughter, Lily M., reacquainted with her father, Spc. Randell K. Starts Jr., 22, was all she wanted. Having minimal phone conversations was tough, Mrs. Starts said, but e-mails and instant messages helped keep up the communication during the deployment.

Her sister-in-law, Rebecca A. Starts, 19, said she just couldn't wait to chat with her brother.

"We have a nice steak dinner waiting for him," she said.

The two women and child were accompanied by Spc. Starts's other sister, Robyn L., 20, and mother, Sherrie L.

The soldiers completed 1,571 total missions, and drove 924,010 miles, primarily in Baghdad. They escorted more than 450,000 tons of food, water, medical supplies, construction equipment and concrete barriers, among other items.

Capt. Jeremiah S. O'Connor, company commander, said he was most proud of the fact that all of the company's men and women came home safely.

"We brought everyone home, and there were no serious injuries," he said.