Families welcome troops in emotional homecoming

Sisters Mariah and Austin Ziegenmeyer waited all year for today. Their dad was coming home.

“I wish it was sooner,” said Austin, 7.

The girls were among hundreds at Prairie Point Middle School in southwest Cedar Rapids to welcome about 50 members of Company C, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Iowa Army National Guard home from a year's deployment in Afghanistan.

Homecomings were also held today in Johnston and Boone. Capt. Shawn Hall, who served as master of ceremonies at Prairie Point, said similar ceremonies will be held until all 2,800 Iowa soldiers are home. He said the scheduling will depend on the pace of work at the demobilization center at Fort McCoy, Wisc.

Mariah and Austin, along with their mother, cousins, aunts, and great-grandparents, were there for their dad, Sgt. Nick Ziegenmeyer.

It's been a “long and draining” year, said the girls' mother Holly Ziegenmeyer. “Very tough – just all those things you want Dad around for and he's not there. To get through those days, it's not always easy.”

When the Ziegenmeyers, of Swisher, learned about a week ago that today was the day, it was “better than Christmas,” said Holly Ziegenmeyer. The girls and their cousins made posters – “Welcome Home Dad” and “Welcome Home Uncle Nick.”

“I might go golfing with him,” said Mariah, 10.

“After the golfing thing, we're going to Disneyworld,” said Austin.

“We're going to have a party,” said Mariah.

Nearby, Sarah Leichsenring waited with the family of her fiance, Pfc. Luke Authier of Shellsburg, wearing matching T-shirts. The couple became engaged on Authier's leave in January.

“It's been really long,” Leichsenring, 19, said of the past year. “I'm definitely ready for him to come home.”

Military families stay in touch through fairly regular telephone calls and contact via Skype, emails, and Facebook posts.

“As far as his personality, he's stayed pretty positive,” said Leichsenring.

“It's hard, because you've got Skype and stuff and you can talk to them but you miss their physical presence,” said Danielle Cooper of Cedar Rapids as she waited for brothers Josh and Mitchell Michel of Bellevue.

Scheduled for 11:30, the arrival of the bus carrying the soldiers was delayed by traffic. Austin and Mariah passed more than an hour snacking on popcorn and bottled water with their cousins.

“It should be the most quick and concise homecoming ceremony that has been performed,” Hall promised the crowd.

At 12:41, the doors at the end of the gym opened, and the girls craned their necks, squinting as the soldiers marched out of the square of bright sunlight and into the gym. They stood quietly for the national anthem and invocation and brief welcoming remarks from Mayor Ron Corbett.

At 12:52, the unit was officially dismissed, releasing its members into the civilian world. Austin and Mariah raced into the uniformed crowd, peering up at unfamiliar faces atop tall bodies dressed in identical uniforms.

“It's hard to find him because they're all dressed alike,” Mariah said. “I said, ‘Look at the backs of their hats, maybe that will give us a clue.'”

Authier's family and fiance found him quickly.

“The tour as a whole is pretty short, but the last month was probably the longest,” said Authier, 20. “It's just good to be home. You're under a lot of stressful situations so it's difficult to maintain a calm friendship with everyone, but we made it through.”

Staff Sgt. Josh Michel, 25, and his brother, Pfc. Mitchell Michel got re-acquainted with their niece Evelyn Cooper, who just turned a year old.

“It's very good to be in a world where everything is normal again, and be with the people you love and care for,” said Josh Michel as his brother played on the floor with Evelyn. “You try to keep yourself busy so that way time goes pretty fast, but you always find time to think about your loved ones and your family at home.”

“I'll be enjoying life, and getting back to the little things that really matter,” said Mitchel Michel, 20.

Meanwhile, Mariah and Austin decided to look for their mother. And their dad was standing next to her, and the girls raced across the floor and into his arms.

“They're bigger,” said Nick Ziegenmeyer, 29. “Definitely bigger.”

“It was really exciting,” Mariah, who may have cried just a little, said afterward. “Really, I just went up to hug him, and that was all.”

“Never let him go,” said Austin.

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