First off, welcome home to the 105 soldiers from Iowa’s 1st Battalion of the 168th Infantry after a yearlong tour in Afghanistan. We are so thankful for your service to our country!
This week’s return was bittersweet for this unit, as they lost one of their own while serving overseas. Sergeant Brent Maher was killed by a roadside bomb in April. Sergeant Maher had ties to Honey Creek and Council Bluffs, Iowa. Hundreds lined streets for his funeral services, and his name is now etched in stone at the Council Bluffs War Memorial, so no one forgets the sacrifice he made for our freedom.
We’ve lost so many local troops, soldiers, marines, etc. These men and women go to battle so we won’t have to here. They leave their families, miss milestones in their children’s lives, all so we can go about our day to day lives safe and free. I cannot IMAGINE being apart from my husband or son for so long, and I can’t imagine what the family members of our troops go through. So I ABSOLUTELY LOVE seeing the homecomings, reunions, and celebrations when our troops come home.
Aaron Williams, surprising his daughter in Council Bluffs
Thanks to Chris Hicks for posting this pic to U-Local!
One of my favorite new shows is Surprise Homecoming on TLC. It features troops coming home and surprising their children, fiances, sisters, you name it. I. LOVE. IT. It shows the core of all of us–pure emotion, love, joy–at the end of the day, money doesn’t matter, status doesn’t matter, all of the things we stress and worry about don’t matter.
All you need is love.
(Thank you John Lennon and Paul McCartney)l
To all of our troops, now home or still fighting for our country,
THANK YOU.
Anchor's Away 