62nd Medical Brigade homecoming

[David]

Tacoma News Tribune


Life goes on when a soldier heads off to war – even though the soldier isn’t around to see most of it.
Perhaps no one was more aware of that fact Tuesday than Spc. David Singleton.

When he and other members of the 62nd Medical Brigade returned Tuesday to Fort Lewis after a 15-month tour in Iraq, the 29-year-old Federal Way resident was greeted by, among others, his daughter, Leanna.

Singleton had never seen or held the 4-month old girl until that moment.

“It’s breathtaking. Just breathtaking,” he said. “It’s my first child. I didn’t get to come home to see her when she was born. It’s just breathtaking. I can’t really explain it.”

About 100 soldiers from the brigade’s headquarters company, surgical team, ambulance company and other small units reunited with loved ones at the emotional ceremony.

The soldiers were visibly exhausted after a string of flights from Kuwait to Budapest to Iceland to Illinois to McChord Air Force Base.

They began the ceremony by marching into Sheridan Gym in formation. After listening to several speeches from senior officers, they were dismissed and ran to their loved ones, who had been sitting in bleachers lining the walls.

Singleton hadn’t seen his family since he came home on mid-tour leave. He embraced little Leanna and his wife, Jennifer, and held each tight for several minutes.

As part of the color guard, he said he didn’t get a chance to scan the crowd and spot his family as he marched in. But it didn’t seem to matter.

“I knew they were here,” he said.

Other soldiers were reunited with children who have grown considerably while they were away.

Staff Sgt. Hang Kim held his son James shortly after the ceremony ended. The 5-year-old had a surprise: a spiral-bound book with white poster board pages filled with colorings and messages for Dad drawn in crayon.

“It’s wonderful. It’s wonderful to be back with family,” the 38-year-old Lacey resident said. “He started learning how to write while I was away. He drew all these for me.”

The headquarters company of the 62nd Brigade ran the U.S. military’s network of hospitals and medical clinics throughout Iraq. It has deployed to Iraq three times.

The brigade was one of the first Fort Lewis units to cross into Iraq in April 2003, soon after Saddam Hussein ’s regime fell to coalition forces.

Leaders cited several statistics from the latest tour, including a survival rate for patients approaching 100 percent.

“Many would argue that the technological advancements in medicine were the primary reason for these achievements, the highest survivability rates in the history of modern warfare,” brigade commander Col. Patrick Sargent said. “However, I submit that the success is inextricably linked to the health care professionals’ unyielding commitment to save lives.”

Lt. Col. Richard Phillips, the brigade executive officer, said that in a year when action movies ruled the box office, the real heroes were the soldiers who helped heal thousands in Iraq.

One soldier returned to a hero’s welcome from 13 of her family members. Maj. Yolonda Summons was met by parents, stepparents, sisters, nieces and nephews who flew from across the country – Colorado, Arkansas and Tennessee – to attend the homecoming.

The family wore matching red T-shirts. On the front was a picture of Time magazine’s annual Person of the Year issue with Summons filling in as its cover story. On the back were the words “Welcome back Yolonda” and a passage from the Bible’s Book of Philippians.

“I’m blessed to have everybody here,” Summons said.

It was her second deployment with the 62nd.

Among her team of greeters was her father, 68-year-old Claude Woods.

“I’ve got six daughters and no sons. I didn’t raise any daughters to go into service,” he said with a laugh. “And I’m here to welcome her back.”