109th Infantry returns safe and sound from Iraq

Commanding officer is pleased that “We had no casualties”

By TOM KANE

HONESDALE, PA - Captain Peter West, commanding officer of the National Guard Company A, the 109th Infantry, breathed a sign of relief. His troops-every man of them-returned safely from 18 month’s deployment in Iraq.

The men, returning in two buses from the airport in Avoca, PA, were greeted with wild cheers, yells, kisses and, in some instances, tears from their families on Thursday, June 15 at the Lemnitzer Armory.

After waiting for an hour and a half for the buses to arrive, the relatives and loved ones screamed and yelled as the troops filed out of the bus doors. It was a happy sight.

“All of them made it,” West said. “We had no casualties. They did everything they were ordered to do. Every mission. They worked hard. Eighteen months to be away from home is a long time. Northeast Pennsylvania should be very proud of them.”

Before the bus arrived, crowds gathered at the armory. West’s wife, Maria, clustered her three children around her as she listened intently to her cell phone.

“They’ve stopped along the Casey Highway and are waiting for the second bus that dropped off troops at the Watres Armory in Scranton,” she announced to everyone around her at the rear of the armory.

West and his wife are both teachers at Honesdale High School. She teaches foreign language and he was a coach of football and wrestling.

West held two of his children, two-year-old Peter, Jr., and three-year-old Natalie, by the hand as he shot orders to his staff sergeant. His third child, Emily, 6, who attends the Lakeside School, stood next to him, watching him in wonder.

The buses were greeting along the route. A huge flag hung from a high building crane over Main Street.

The company, which has adopted the anaconda snake as their symbol, will not be deployed again.

West, who served in Honduras, Germany and Bosnia, comes from a military family. His father, Peter, and his grandfather were combat engineers.

“He came up from the rank,” his father said. “He went to Officers’ Candidate School and kept getting promoted.”

“We were stationed at an airbase in western Iraq near a town called Alasad,” said Sergeant Jeremy Tyler from Honesdale. His mother, father, sisters, aunts, nephews, nieces and girlfriend clustered around him, eager to get a moment with him.

“I can’t tell you how great it is to be home,” he said.