Home » Archives » "Bangor soldier gets two-week break from Iraq"

Bangor soldier gets two-week break from Iraq

Aug-19-2004 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

[Link to Full Article]

JULIA HALL, OF THE NEWS STAFF

BANGOR - Waving miniature American flags in anticipation, about 15 friends and relatives welcomed a Bangor soldier home on a two-week vacation from Iraq on Wednesday evening at Bangor International Airport."It's the best feeling I've had in a long time," Lt. Jeremy White, 28, said after many hugs, kisses and handshakes.


White, an Alpha Company executive officer with the Maine Army National Guard's 133rd Engineer Battalion, has been serving in Mosul, Iraq, since March. That was when the 400-strong battalion left Fort Drum, N.Y., to relieve an Alabama National Guard unit.[...]

Among his welcome crew at the airport was his father, Terry White of Stetson, a former military man who is understanding about his son's duty, but still prefers having him safely at home.

"As a parent, it's heart-wrenching," he said. "It's just on your mind constantly."

Terry White and his wife, Vonnie, have to bear having two children in Iraq - their 25-year-old son Jeff is stationed in Fallujah, working as a contractor with the Marines.

"They haven't been able to link up, except through e-mail," Terry White said.

The excitement at the soldier's homecoming was fervent as welcomers cheered White's exit from the plane. White was wearing his army fatigues and was greeted with a bouquet of flowers from his girlfriend.

"I'm just so beside myself," White's aunt Anna Allen said Wednesday afternoon. "I didn't want to miss this kid coming home."


Advertisements