'Man oh man, Daddy’s home from Afghanistan'

CEDAR RAPIDS – U.S. Army Spc. Justin Moon was riding on the left hand side of the first side – right behind the driver. His mother, Kathy Moon, knew it, and so did the rest of his 25 family members and life-long neighbors of the Moons, who live on Brunswick Court in Iowa City.

The 25-year-old army medic had been sending his fiancee texts from his seat in a slow-moving caravan of buses packed with about 130 members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 34th Infantry Division – the last of several Cedar Rapids-based National Guard units to return home from Afghanistan this month as part of the military's scaled-down effort in Operation Enduring Freedom.

“It's been a long time,” a teary-eyed Kathy Moon said Saturday. Nine months for Justin, to be exact.

Armed with American flags the Brunswick Court crew milled in the parking lot of Cedar Rapids Ice Arena waiting for a glimpse of Justin's bus.  At about 2:40 p.m. – 40 minutes after the scheduled arrival – it appeared in the distance.

They couldn't see Justin through the tinted windows as his bus pulled past them, but that didn't matter. They still whistled, yelped and waved their flags in unison at the first concrete proof that he was finally home.

Then it was time for the group to rush into the arena, where they could finally see Justin in the flesh. Inside the building were hundreds of others who, like them, anxiously awaited that first sighting of their favorite soldier.

The arena was dotted by dozens of home-made signs:

“Welcome home, Adam,” said one.

“We missed you, Mommy,” said another.

A can't-miss poster in front row center expressed a quite relief.  “Man oh man, Daddy's home from Afghanistan,” it said.

Those posters shook as the troops marched in to the tune of “Thunderstruck,” and the area's buzz exploded into a raucous cheer. Most soldiers stayed straight-faced as they marched into formation in front of a stage. But one briefly showed emotion, thrusting both fists into the air.

That raw emotion became the norm once the troops were dismissed.  People rushed from the stands onto the floor – the scene of a flurry of hugs, kisses and exclamations, as husbands and wives, mothers and sons were finally reunited.

Standing with her parents, Sgt. Andrea Brandon, of Marion, summarized her feelings in one word – “amazing,” before rushing away to find her husband.

“Surreal,” is all that Spc. Christopher Clark, of Cedar Rapids, could initially muster after his parents and sisters had mobbed him.

“My son is home! My son is home!” yelled Clark's mother, Mary Roberson, as she pounced on his shoulders.

“I didn't get this much action overseas,” said Clark, who spent about a year away.

A smaller reunion that should have been bigger took place a few feet away from the Robersons.

Heather Johnson, the wife of Cpt. Chris Johnson, returning from his fourth tour, said about 20 family members tried, but couldn't make the trip from Bondurant to Cedar Rapids. They were left behind in Amana when their party bus broke down near the Ox Yolk Inn.

Heather was on that bus too, but made it to the ceremony just in time, thanks to an Iowa state trooper.  After stopping for the stalled bus, the trooper, who introduced himself as Chris, asked his commander for special permission to drive Heather to Cedar Rapids. It was an amazing gesture, Heather said.

By Saturday afternoon all 2,900 members of the Iowa National Guard, deployed in Afghanistan had returned home. Many of them were there for good.