Nov 6, 2005 By Jenny Susa 5 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – American flags flew majestically in a gentle breeze as the sun beamed down on Saturday afternoon. Most of the flags were held by the hands of people excitedly waiting to greet their fathers, husbands and sons, all members of the Army National Guard who returned home after serving in Iraq for more than a year. The large crowd of family and friends met 31 soldiers, who were from Company B, 1st Battalion, 103rd Armor unit based in Connellsville, at the Connellsville Armory, which was recently named the Readiness Center.

There were 63 members who were deployed more than a year ago, and the rest are expected to return later this month, according to family readiness specialist Sharon Friedel, who is awaiting the return of her own husband during the next few weeks. Friedel said the new Readiness Center was just dedicated in August, and many of the men returning Saturday were seeing it for the first time.

At the new facility, the soldiers were greeted by family and friends holding the flags, balloons, and “Welcome Home” signs. Most of the children were dressed in their most patriotic attire, and some held signs that said “Welcome Home, Daddy.”

Among the crowd of people waiting to greet their loved ones were the Ferris family, who said they had been without their husband and father, SFC Scott Ferris, for 17 months.

“We got through it by staying busy,” said his wife, Patty Ferris, accompanied by her daughter, Alyssa, and two younger sons, Shane and Seth. “We had work and dancing and sports and just staying busy helped us get through.”

Patty Ferris said this return was a “nice surprise” because they had not expected the soldiers to return until right before Christmas.

“We’re happy they will be here for the holidays now,” said Patty Ferris, adding her husband was excited to be returning in time for hunting season.

“It’s the little things like that they miss most when they are away,” said Patty Ferris. “Scott said he missed turning on the radio and hearing his regular news channel – things like that.”

Patty Ferris said that e-mail was also helpful in dealing with being apart.

“He e-mailed a lot and that was good,” said Patty Ferris. “Past generations didn’t have that. It made it easier not to have to worry about the time changes while you were waiting for phone calls.”

The Ferris family said they thought the soldiers deserved the warm welcome they received.

“They’ve worked hard,” said Alyssa Ferris. “It’s time for them to get back to their families and back to their normal lives.”

As all the families talked among themselves, sirens were heard in the distance, signaling the arrival of the guardsmen.

As the sound grew closer, the crowd lined the sidewalks, holding up their signs, as state police vehicles and fire trucks from local departments escorted the charter bus holding the soldiers to their destination.

As the guardsmen filed off of the bus, each was emotionally greeted by family members and friends. Some kissed their wives for the first time in many months, and lifted their small children for a long hug. Others were greeted by their parents, who happily held their sons in a long embrace.

All came home to a heartfelt round of applause.

Ken Washington, a teacher at Connellsville East Junior High School, was one of the fathers who greeted his son, Michael Washington, whom he said was gone “way too long.”

“I got through it one day at a time,” said Washington. “At first, I wasn’t too concerned because I knew they were training and they weren’t in Iraq. But as soon as they were in the country and I heard bad things were starting to happen, I stopped reading the paper and watching the news.”

Washington said that one time that was most difficult for him was when four local soldiers were injured by a car bomb in April, one of which had been a student of Washington’s.

Another difficult time was when he heard reports of Philadelphia guardsmen who were injured, and he didn’t hear at first what part of Pennsylvania the soldiers were from.

“I e-mailed my son and asked him to ‘please tell me you are OK,’ and he did, so I felt much better after that. It’s still hard to read the news about what is happening there because all of these boys are somebody’s son.”

Washington said that all that mattered to him this day was that his son was home.

“To see the bus pull out was hard to deal with,” said Washington. “But to see it come back in, and knowing that he is on it and safe, is wonderful.”

As everyone gathered in the building to socialize and grab a bite to eat, Commanding Officer Tim Morreau thanked the public for coming, and reminded them that there are still soldiers from their unit that have not yet safely returned.

“This will happen again for the smaller groups returning later this month,” said Morreau. We’re not all back until we’re all back. But thank you very much for coming today.”

The soldiers got one more thunderous round of applause.

Friedel said that candles and car magnets are available for sale at the Readiness Center to raise money for the military families from that unit.