FORT STEWART —
Sgt. James Thorpe’s first tour in Afghanistan was months shorter than his previous deployment to Iraq, yet for the new Army dad it still lasted nearly the lifetime of his baby girl.
“It was slow,” Thorpe of Atlanta said Wednesday as he held his 8-month-old daughter, Alaysia, for the first time since about three weeks after she was born. “My wife sent pictures every day and I’ve got every picture since I’ve been gone. She’s beautiful, just like me.”
Thorpe was among 100 Fort Stewart soldiers who returned home Wednesday from a tour in Afghanistan. About 600 more troops from the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment were scheduled to follow in the coming days.
The battalion’s deployment in February marked the first time Fort Stewart’s 3rd Infantry Division had deployed ground troops to Afghanistan in the 12 years since the war began. Instead, the Georgia-based division served four tours in Iraq — three of them lasting a year or longer — before the U.S. withdrawal last year.
Staff Sgt. Torrence Gilliam, who served in Iraq three times before his first Afghanistan deployment, said the time didn’t seem to pass much faster despite the shorter tour.
“It was about the same because there was no R&R,” said Gilliam of Spartanburg, S.C., noting that previously soldiers had gotten short breaks that let them come home mid-deployment.
More than 200 spouses, parents and children — including quite a few strollers holding newborns — cheered, squealed and cried from the bleachers at Fort Stewart’s main parade grounds as the soldiers arrived by bus and marched out to the field in formation.
Rynn Allen was waiting with Captain America-themed posters and T-shirts made for her husband, Spc. Cory Allen. That included a star-spangled headband and a red-white-and-blue ballet tutu for their 3-month-old daughter, Lacey. The soldier had been able to make a quick trip home for her birth, but had to return to his unit five days later.
“It was real hard going back, that’s for sure,” Spc. Allen said, cradling his napping baby in his arms. “But it was worth it.”
Overall about 2,200 Fort Stewart soldiers have deployed to Afghanistan this year, including the 3rd Infantry’s top general and his command staff. About 100 more are scheduled to go soon and will serve in small teams assigned with training and advising Afghan security forces.
With a fourth wartime tour under his belt, Gilliam said he was eager to reunite with his family in South Carolina and feast on some hot wings for dinner. He’s in for a busy fall with a wedding in December followed by a Christmas trip to Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Florida.
The soldier’s fiancie, Samantha Fidilio, said she isn’t counting on this being his unit’s final deployment.
“Not if they’re stationed here,” she said of Fort Stewart. “But I keep hoping.”
Top News
Related Photos
-
Army PFC Fabian Castrillon hugs his fiancee Marivel Penalea, right, during a welcome home ceremony for 100 soldiers from the Army's 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, Wednesday at Fort Stewart, Ga. Stephen Morton
Discussion
Ft. Stewart troops begin return from Afghanistan
-
-
Wave of attacks kills at least 95 in Iraq
A wave of attacks killed at least 95 people in Shiite and Sunni areas of Iraq on Monday, officials said, pushing the death toll over the past week to more than 240 and extending one of the most sustained bouts of sectarian violence the country has seen in years.
-
Arias attorneys will put one witness on: Arias
Complaining that Jodi Arias’ sensational murder case has become a modern-day “witch trial,” her lawyers tried to quit in the middle of the death-penalty phase Monday, then said they will call only one witness: Arias.
-
Oklahoma twister tracked path of 1999 tornado
Monday’s powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the region in May 1999.
-
Dozens killed as tornado ravages Oklahoma City area
A powerful late-afternoon tornado leveled much of this Oklahoma community Monday, killing at least 51 people. Reporters on helicopters flying above the scene described the scene as “devastating.”
-
Today in History for Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Today is Tuesday, May 21, the 141st day of 2013. There are 224 days left in the year.
-
Several Republicans weigh challenge to Barrow
Now that Rep. John Barrow has turned down a campaign for the U.S. Senate, the challenge ahead for the Deep South’s last white Democratic congressman will be to defy the odds a second time by winning re-election in an eastern Georgia district that was drawn to ensure his defeat.
-
‘Trek’ does $70.6M but falls short of studio hopes
“Star Trek: Into Darkness” has warped its way to a $70.6 million domestic launch from Friday to Sunday, though it’s not setting any light-speed records with a debut that’s lower than the studio’s expectations.
-
Syrian troops push into strategic rebel-held town
Syrian troops pushed into a rebel-held town near the Lebanese border on Sunday, fighting house-to-house and bombing from the air as President Bashar Assad tried to strengthen his grip on a strategic strip of land running from the capital to the Mediterranean coast.
-
Taylor Swift wins 8 trophies at Billboard Awards
Another day, another domination for Taylor Swift: She was the red hot winner at the Billboard Music Awards.
-
Tornadoes level homes in Okla., 21 injured
One of several tornadoes that touched down Sunday in Oklahoma turned homes in a trailer park near Oklahoma City into splinters and rubble and sent frightened residents along a 100-mile corridor scurrying for shelter.
- More Top News Headlines
-
