The Huntsville Item, Huntsville, TX

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March 4, 2010

Event to honor returning soldiers

By Mary Rainwater Staff Reporter

HUNTSVILLE — Army reserve soldiers and the families of Huntsville-based Detachment 1 366th Military Police Company who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom will be honored Sunday in a public ceremony for their recent service in Afghanistan.

The “Welcome Home Warrior-Citizen” event takes place at 10 a.m. at the Sam Houston State University Criminal Justice building auditorium. It will honor nine soldiers from the local reserve unit that returned from a one-year deployment in Afghanistan in September of 2009.

“When these soldiers go away, they leave behind their families and their jobs,” event organizer and unit administrator Sgt. 1st Class Susan Wireman said. “This ceremony acknowledges the contribution these soldiers make to the global war on terror and honors the families for the sacrifices they make as well.”

Special guests attending the ceremony include retired Lt. Col. Connor Dotson Jr., along with 11th Military Police Brigade Commander Brig. Gen. Robert W. Kenyon, 11th Military Police Brigade Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas H. Legare and Huntsville Mayor J. Turner.

Each soldier being recognized will be presented with the Welcome Home Warrior-Citizen Award, an honor that is eventually bestowed upon all Army Reserve soldiers who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

It consists of an encased American flag, a specially-designed commemorative coin and a lapel pen set for the soldier and spouse and a Welcome Home Warrior-Citizen flag.

Wireman, a single mother of two who works full-time for the Huntsville Reserve Unit, is not only organizing Sunday’s event but is one of the soldiers being recognized as a Warrior-Citizen.

“I am honored to be part of this ceremony because it shows me what an important organization I am part of,” she said. “It reminds me that my call to duty was not in vain.”

The Welcome Home Warrior-Citizen recognition program was enacted around 2005 by the U.S. Congress and was signed into law by former president George W. Bush.

“This program honors in a small measure our soldiers who have willingly answered their nation’s call to war,” Wireman explained. “It is a gesture of gratitude from a nation who wants to recognize them for their dedication, service and sacrifice.”

Sunday’s ceremony is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Wireman at susan.wireman@usar.army.mil.

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