Families welcome soldiers at Drum

FORT DRUM — For the past year, a webcam has linked them, allowing almost daily communication between Fort Drum and northern Iraq. It's made her husband's third deployment easier for Deena D. Byers than the first two, when face-to-face communication over a computer wasn't possible. But there's still the cold reality of distance.

"I'm just looking forward to being able to sit with him and hold his hand," Mrs. Byers said Tuesday evening, as she waited on bleachers with other relatives and friends of returning 10th Mountain Division, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade soldiers in a hangar at Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield.

Mrs. Byers's husband, Jeffrey J. Byers, a platoon sergeant, was part of the first group of the brigade's troops to return from a yearlong deployment to northern Iraq. The brigade was stationed at Multinational Division-North and provided air support to American and Iraqi ground forces. The 108 soldiers who landed about 3 p.m. Tuesday at the airfield soon will be followed by the remainder of the brigade, which includes about 2,800 troops in all, as they return for a year at home between deployments.

"There — he's right there!" Mrs. Byers said, pointing at a video screen set up in front of the bleachers. The video showed the soldiers as they exited a plane earlier in the afternoon.

After landing, the troops took care of paperwork and other tasks before they were reunited with friends and family at the 6 p.m. welcome ceremony, according to Capt. Frederick Harrell, a division public affairs officer.

Something else communications technology can't yet provide: a favorite home-cooked meal. Mrs. Byers said she planned to cook tacos to welcome her husband home.

Justin M. Byers, 20, said he was looking forward "to going fishing with my dad."

A band played as a huge overhead door slowly opened on the troops, backlit by the waning sunlight in a cloudy sky. Cheers drowned out the band as the men and women marched in.

"Welcome home!" Lt. Col. Dennis J. McKernan, rear detachment commander for the brigade, said over a loudspeaker, to more cheers. "We could not be more proud of you."

The formation held while the band played the songs of the Army and the 10th Mountain Division, and children wiggled to get a glimpse of their parents.

Then the two crowds flowed toward each other in a noisy mess of hugs, kisses, the handing off of children and welcome-home balloons and small gifts. A sea of camouflage funneled into the bleachers, mixing with civilian T-shirts and dresses, and brightly colored children's clothing.

"Oh my God, I love you. I'm so proud of you. I'm so glad you're home," a woman said from inside a teary embrace with a solider, expressing in one breath all the emotions of the moment.

Mrs. Byers was beaming as Mr. Byers, an avionics mechanic, stood beside her, with their two sons and friends close by.

Asked about his immediate plans, Mr. Byers didn't hesitate for a moment. First, he said: a bath. Second, his wife's tacos. And as for the months ahead, "Salmon season's about to start," he said with a grin.