Tears of joy at Sioux City welcome home ceremony for Iowa National Guard members

SIOUX CITY — There were all sorts of handmade signs at Wednesday afternoon's welcome home ceremony for members of the Iowa National Guard who served for more than six months in the Middle East as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.

Some spoke to just how much time had passed, "I'd wait forever but 259 days is long enough." Another joked about ditching G.I. Joe for the "3D" model. Others had family nicknames above photos of their loved ones. One simply said, "Welcome home daddy."

Sioux City resident Nancy Eickholt came with a small flag in her hair while wearing a military T-shirt. Her son, Ethan Riley, 37, was on his second deployment. She said it was a surprise when she heard the mission had concluded earlier than expected.

"The best (surprise) of any kind," she said.

For her, the toughest part of the past year was not being able to talk much with Ethan and him not being able to tell her much about what he was up to.

"Sometimes I heard more from his brothers and his dad," she said before acknowledging that so often sons don't want their mothers to worry. Especially in such a high-stakes situation.

The ceremony in a hangar at the Sioux Gateway Airport, one of three meant for the 250 Iowa National Guard soldiers who returned to the Hawkeye State, brought in more than 100 people. (The other two ceremonies were held in Des Moines at the 132d Air Wing, Des Moines International Airport.)

Members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division who arrived in Sioux City and their families came from counties across western Iowa. They came from Buena Vista, Calhoun and Cherokee; others from Clay, Dickinson, Fremont, Humboldt and Kossuth; still more from Lyon, O'Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, and Plymouth; and a few more from Pocahontas, Pottawattamie, Sac, Sioux and Woodbury. Not to mention those who made the journey from neighboring states such as Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota.

  Buy Photo

Iowa National Guard Brig. Gen. Derek Adams promised those gathered he'd keep his remarks for the ceremony brief.

"I know all of you have one thing on your mind," he said. "Today's a joyful day."

The tears of joy started flowing for those in attendance when the hangar door opened at 2:09 p.m. and a plane from Sierra Pacific Airlines landed. Some in the audience were on video calls and held their phones up so the person on the other line could see. Once the ceremony ended, soldiers made beelines for their friends and family or vice versa. Some jumped into the arms of loved ones when they got close enough.

Ashlee Sandoval and her family made the roughly 90-minute drive from Storm Lake to welcome back Arlette Sandoval, 21. Ashlee said she had been missing her older sister. They were able to text back and forth some, sharing jokes, but the calls were few and far between. Showing up mattered a great deal to the family.

"Just so she knows we're here for her and still remember," Ashlee Sandoval said.

The ceremonies happened about two weeks after airmen from the 185th Air Refueling Wing returned from a deployment overseas and were greeted in the aircraft hangar in Sioux City by their families.

About 1,800 Iowa National Guard members deployed throughout the Middle East for Operation Inherent Resolve, which is focused on defeating the extremist military group ISIS. Two Iowa National Guard soldiers — Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown and Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines — were killed in Syria in December by a lone attacker believed to be linked to ISIS. Both were part of the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division. Both men were recognized during the ceremony. None of the soldiers who returned to Sioux City were a part of the mission in Syria, according to the Iowa National Guard.

Sgt. 1st Class Cole Cooley, who lives in Spencer, worked to help close down Al-Asad Airbase, which is in central Iraq and is being taken over by Iraqi armed forces. Cooley said the emotions of the day were "still kind of hitting." The thing he was most excited for? Seeing his dogs.