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A joyful homecoming at Fort Lewis

Sep-24-2005 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

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By Alex Fryer, Seattle Times

Amid the handmade "Welcome Home!" signs, low-cut jeans and high expectations, there was Jamie Dillard in a white sweater and floral dress, waiting for her husband in a Fort Lewis gymnasium yesterday.

It had been a year since Spc. Charlie Dillard left for Iraq, along with about 3,800 others in the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division. Thirty four weren't coming home, the victims of enemy fire, roadside bombings and other violence.

The Fort Lewis-based Strykers — so named for their eight-wheeled combat vehicle — saw some of the hottest action in Iraq, chasing insurgents while rebuilding schools, hospitals and bridges.

Now they are slowly filtering back.

Yesterday, 291 men, including Dillard's husband, reached the last leg of a journey that began in Mosul, Iraq. The troops were late arriving and the morning ceremony had been delayed, leaving families waiting for hours.

Dillard, 25, held her 2-year-old son, Charles Jr., dressed in khaki pants, a white dress shirt and blue sweater.

Her daughter, Katelyn, 6, trotted around, talking to friends as hundreds of families lined bleachers and sat on fold-out chairs.

Dillard preferred to stand.


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