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107th Field Artillery return to warm welcome in Oil City (PA)
Titusville Herald ^ | January 28, 2005 | by Sam Gordon, Venango County correspondent

Posted on 01/29/2005 7:16:42 PM PST by StarCMC

OIL CITY -- Cheers and tears greeted the returning soldiers of Battery C, 1st Battalion, 107th Field Artillery of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in Oil City Thursday.

The unit spent nearly 13 months on a tour of duty in Iraq. A crowd estimated at close to 1,000 lined State Street on Oil City's south side, braving frigid temperatures for hours waiting for the buses to bring the troops back home.

Mixed in with the crowd were the families of Sgt. David Kradel, Spc. Rovert McIntyre and Spc. Thomas Fuller, three Titusville-area soldiers returning home from deployment.

McIntyre, a 16-year veteran of the military before his tour in Iraq, had been trained as a cannon crew with his unit. Fuller had four years of military service prior to deployment and Kradel had 14 years of military service as a gunner. All three were recruited as MP's during their tour in Iraq.

The show of support was due in part to the efforts of the Patriot's Partners Family Readiness Group, who worked for weeks to get everything ready for the homecoming.

Judy Wojtowicz of Oil City, a member of the organization, almost was overcome with emotion as the day wore on and the clock ticked down to the time the unit would return.

"This is such a happy day," Wojtowicz said. "It seems like Christmas and a birthday and a whole lot more all rolled into one."

Preperations at the Oil City armory were progressing for days and reached a crescendo in the early morning hours Thursday. The first reports that the bus caravan left Fort Dix, N.J. on time at 9 a.m. brought about a round of cheers from family members who gathered early to welcome home their loved ones.

Corp. Shaun Courtney of Warren provided a live report on radio station WKQW as the buses rolled along Interstate 80. Courtney was in high spirits as he reported, "We are all very happy to be on our way home and can hardly wait to see our families again."

The news of the troops on the road made Susan Cook of Oil City smile with a tear in her eye. Her fiancé was coming back. Cook said it had been a difficult year. "There were good days and bad days. The good days were when he would call. The bad days were when he wouldn't and you heard some horrible news about the war on TV."

Finding a parking place soon became a problem as motorists squeezed into every available spot around the armory.

"This is incredible," said officer Mike Cannan of the Oil City police said. I have never seen anything like it. People everywhere on both sides of town. This is one great traffic jam."

As the afternoon wore on, well-wishers started to assemble near the armory with flags, ribbons and banners. Among the group was Oil City Councilman Merrill Whitling, who was warming himself by several burning barrells that were set-up to help ease the chill.

"This is a great show of support," Whitling said of the gathering crowd. "I am so glad that so many people came here for a part of local history."

Also in the crowd was Wayne Howell of Franklin, waiting for two grandsons and a nephew to return. Howell, a veteran of the Korean war was amazed by the celebration.

"I am so glad to see this happen," Howell said "When we came back from Korea, we didn't have anything like this. Korea is the forgotten war."

The crowd reached a frenzy at 4:45 p.m. when the two motorcoaches completed their trip and came to a stop in front of the armory. Led by a dozen police cars and fire trucks, the sirens announced to the enthusiastic assembly that the boys were home.

Family members waiting inside the armory then had the chance to put their arms around loved ones and enjoy a warm hug they had waited for since December 2003 when the unit left for duty.

After a brief welcoming ceremony the soldiers were dismissed, and with big smiles they disbursed and left with their families to begin their lives again.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: Pennsylvania; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: ang; armynationalguard; nationalguard; returningheroes; welcomehome

Sgt. David Kradel holds his daughters Jenna and Grace after nearly 13 months of being away from them. The Battery C, 1st Battalion, 107th Field Artillery of the Pennsylvania National Guard came home to the open arms of family and friends on Thursday after being stationed in Iraq. (Herald photos by Kristie Proper)


1 posted on 01/29/2005 7:16:43 PM PST by StarCMC
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To: Old Sarge; HiJinx; Radix; AZamericonnie

Ping!


2 posted on 01/29/2005 7:23:25 PM PST by StarCMC (It's God's job to forgive Bin Laden; it's our job to arrange the meeting.)
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To: StarCMC
Family members waiting inside the armory then had the chance to put their arms around loved ones and enjoy a warm hug they had waited for since December 2003 when the unit left for duty.

So heartwarming! God bless them all!

3 posted on 01/29/2005 7:29:22 PM PST by AZamericonnie
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To: StarCMC
Welcome home all you Red-Legs. St Barbara was watching over you.


4 posted on 01/29/2005 7:33:20 PM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: AZamericonnie

Wonderful story! Heroes all.


5 posted on 01/29/2005 7:34:10 PM PST by The_Media_never_lie
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To: StarCMC
Welcome home heroes!
6 posted on 01/29/2005 7:37:42 PM PST by Diva Betsy Ross (Just say no to the ACLU!)
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To: StarCMC

God bless these brave souls who put their lives on the line so others can live free of oppression.

I honor their sacrifice for our country, and am so thankful for their safe return home!


7 posted on 01/29/2005 7:42:48 PM PST by LisaMalia (Thanks to our troops, FREEDOM RINGS IN IRAQ!)
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To: StarCMC
thanks.....

keep those caissons rolling on.......

8 posted on 01/29/2005 7:46:53 PM PST by pointsal
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To: cyborg

Awwww....


9 posted on 01/29/2005 7:48:58 PM PST by Petronski (Theft is an important part of posting.)
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To: Owl_Eagle; brityank; Physicist; WhyisaTexasgirlinPA; GOPJ; abner; baseballmom; Willie Green; Mo1; ..

ping


10 posted on 01/29/2005 7:49:40 PM PST by Tribune7
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To: Petronski

Awwwwww that's so cute... thank God he came back alive to watch his children grow up.


11 posted on 01/29/2005 7:54:18 PM PST by cyborg
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To: cyborg

Given the expression of the little girl on the left, I'd say it was 'mommy' taking the photo.


12 posted on 01/29/2005 7:57:26 PM PST by Petronski (Theft is an important part of posting.)
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To: StarCMC
Hope all America keeps this up! We do here in my state...every plane of returning troops is met...

bet this galls sKerry and his puppeteer, sTeddy

13 posted on 01/29/2005 8:29:30 PM PST by maine-iac7 (...but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." Lincoln)
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To: StarCMC

Battery C, 1st Battalion, 107th Field Artillery


14 posted on 01/29/2005 9:50:47 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (Support Our Troops! ~ www.proudpatriots.org)
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To: Kathy in Alaska

Welcome home! I just got back from welcoming home the 107th that returned today Pittsburgh. WHAT A WELCOME! The word spread and there were hundreds there to welcome home our heroes!!


15 posted on 01/31/2005 2:51:40 PM PST by smokeyb
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