Brigade members welcomed home

FORT DRUM — Hundreds of friends and family members packed into bleachers just before midnight Saturday in the brightly lit gymnasium of the Magrath Sports Complex to welcome 300 soldiers back from Afghanistan.

The group was the second to return from the 10th Mountain Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team; a flight of 107 soldiers returned Nov. 11. The rest of the brigade is due back in the coming weeks from a tough yearlong deployment in Wardak and Logar provinces, south of Kabul.

Of the brigade's approximately 3,500 soldiers, 29 have died during the deployment, 24 of those in combat-related incidents.

At the back of the gymnasium Saturday, Jenifer R. Voss and Jessica L. Owens were all smiles, and laughed nervously as they talked about the year that was about to come to an end — a year without their husbands, a year of raising young children. They were excited about what came next, but apprehensive, too. Their husbands, of course, had a very different year.

"I'm worried," said Mrs. Voss, 20, who was three months pregnant when her husband, Spc. John D. Voss, deployed.

She went home to Montana through her pregnancy and returned to Fort Drum earlier this month, where she was setting up a home on post.

Four-month-old Lucas J. Voss bounced in her arms, wide-eyed.

"We haven't really prepared for it at all, for the parenthood," she said. " It's going to be a big adjustment when he gets home, trying to share responsibilities."

Mrs. Owens, 23, from Danville, Ky., had stayed at Fort Drum with daughter Jaden L., 3, and son Nicholas K., 14 months, during her husband's deployment. Mrs. Owens said she was proud that she'd persevered through the year, but she, too, was nervous about the days ahead as her husband, Spc. Joshua W. Owens, 23, rejoined the family.

"My daughter, she's very shy," she said. "She seems really excited right now, but I'm worried about how she's going to accept him back in our home."

As midnight neared, the time for anticipation ended. The crowd roared as 300 soldiers marched into the gym in formation. After the band played its songs and 10th Mountain Division and Fort Drum Commander Maj. Gen. James L. Terry offered words of thanks, the gym became 300 private living rooms, with couples kissing, families embracing and tears staining faces in every direction.

Among them, Spc. Owens and Spc. Voss held their children and embraced their wives.

Spc. Voss, a lanky 23-year-old, was as quiet and wide-eyed as his son.

"I'm really tired," he said. "It's been a long day."

He looked around, a little bewildered. Homemade signs and colorful balloons and young women and babies abounded.

"It's been a long year."