Jake is home!
Fergus Falls, Minnesota
Monday, April 12, 2004 "Home Safe"
Excerpts from author Lucien Holmes' article in the "Fergus Falls Daily Journal"
"When members of the National Guard 2/136 Infantry returned from Bosnia on Thursday, hundreds of family and friends filled the Fergus Falls Armory to welcome them home. Around one third of the 100 troops were from Fergus Falls. Other members of the Bravo company hailed from the Thief River Falls and Crookston areas.
The Armory began to fill up at noon. Small groups formed in disparate corners in and outside the building. Anxious wives, children, and neighbors milled around outside. Rumors of the arrival time varied greatly from cluster to cluster, and had it not been for occasionally barked-out updates from National Guardsmen, no-one likely would have known the three busses would arrive shortly after 2 p.m.
As the minutes ticked by, the crowd in the Armory began to filter outside, and along the narrow path leading to the two front doors, the masses began a friendly jockeying for position. The arrival of long-since departed loved ones seemed a weight on everyone's shoulders. All eyes would jump furtively to Friberg Avenue, where the procession was set to come down any minute.
As the soldiers neared, applause and joyful shouts broke out spontaneously around the crowd.
Just behind the tank, three buses carrying guardsmen pulled up to the curb. The silhouettes of the soldiers were standing in the buses before the vehicles ever stopped. They reached for their gear and probably eyed the crowd outside as intently as the crowd was trying to stare through the tinted windows.
The first soldier off the bus was greeted with torrential applause, but most guardsmen kept their eyes downcast and their demeanor professional until dismissal.
Gradually everyone moved inside. In the auditorium, before the brief ceremony, every eye scanned the crowd. Their troops' faces were drawn, and hid in a sea of camouflage. But visible smiles began to play at their lips as they saw familiar faces.
In honor of fallen soldiers, the assembly in the Armory observed 30 seconds of silence, broken only by an occasional impatient baby's yowl. By contrast to the cheering of moments before, the sheer silence was eerie...."
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