Welcome Home

We had the pleasure of welcoming home some of Oklahoma's finest on Saturday. We attended a ceremony with some friends to welcome home some soldiers from the 45th Infantry National Guard who have been in Kuwait and Afghanistan for about a year.

The ceremony was supposed to start at 10 a.m., but it was delayed about 30 minutes because of weather the buses had run into in Louisiana. It was so neat to be able to be a part of the homecoming celebration.

130 soldiers were coming home, but without 14 of their fallen brothers. There was a picture of each the 14 soldiers who have given their life for our freedom. The soldier who come home would march by these pictures in remembrance.

The whole atmosphere was very festive. The National Guard band was playing music. The kids loved cymbalist - is that what he's called? Behind the stage was the biggest American flag I have ever seen. It was HUGE!

When they announced the soldiers had exited off the highway and would be arriving in 10 minutes the electricity in the air amped up. Mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, children and other loved ones got into their place and held their flags and signs high.

They announced the soldiers were lining up outside. They opened the hanger doors and in marched the soldiers with the band playing America The Beautiful. Pay no attention to the crazy lady cheering loudly into the speaker. It was hard to not cheer! (Make sure you pause the playlist at the bottom of the blog before you start the video.)



It was so moving and exciting. The cheering was so loud. Some soldiers stared straight ahead and marched. Others waved. I saw a couple videoing the welcome.

There were a few speakers. Representative James Lankford spoke for a few minutes. He was encouraging, funny, and kept it short. Major General Miles Deering spoke for about 10 minutes too. Everyone knew we were not here to listen to them speak. As the Major General was wrapping up his words, people started to make their way down the bleachers and out of their seat in anticipation of finding their loved ones.

One boy who was around 3 years old, found his daddy before the speaker was finished and ran to him even though the soldiers hadn't been dismissed. He wrapped his arms tightly around his daddy's neck and didn't loosen his grip for about 5 minutes.

As we made our way down to the floor to meet the soldier we have sent boxes to, I admit I teared up. It was hard not too when you see daddies hugging their baby girls or 10 year old boys crying while they grasp their daddy's uniform.

We found our way to a young man we have never met, nor even knew what he looked like. My kids shyly gave their welcome home cards to "Soldier Zac". I was struck by how young he looked. I thought it was an tremendous responsibility he had taken on at the young age of 19. Proud of him. We will get together for a meal with him soon.

Thank you to Soldier Zac and all the others who came home for being gone from your families, missing the holidays and special occasion, and putting your life on the line so we could live our lives safely here. Thank you to all of you who are working here. Thank you to all the soldiers who are still gone and continuing to protect us. Really "Thank You" is not enough, but I don't know how else express the gratitude we have.