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
-
-
16 hurt in shuttle bus crash near Atlanta airport
Sixteen people were taken to the hospital Friday, at least two in serious condition, after they were hurt in a crash between a hotel shuttle bus and a tractor-trailer near Atlanta’s airport, officials said.
-
Trucker bumps I-5 bridge, sees horror behind him
The trucker was hauling a load of drilling equipment when his load bumped against the steel framework over an Interstate 5 bridge. He looked in his rearview mirror and watched in horror as the span collapsed into the water behind him. Two vehicles fell into the icy Skagit River.
-
Judge: Ariz. sheriff’s office profiles Latinos
A federal judge ruled Friday that the office of America’s self-proclaimed toughest sheriff systematically singled out Latinos in its trademark immigration patrols, marking the first finding by a court that the agency racially profiles people.
-
Today in History for Saturday, May 25, 2013
Today is Saturday, May 25, the 145th day of 2013. There are 220 days left in the year.
-
VHS graduation to be broadcast online
Valdosta City Schools along with Valdosta High School will celebrate the academic careers of our students on Friday, May 24, at its annual Commencement Ceremony beginning at 7:00 pm at Valdosta State University's Physical Education Complex.
-
VDT Weekend Update
News Reporter Caitlin Barker speaks to Bernard Bulemu and Eric Mathis, representatives from the South Georgia Regional Library about their summer programs for kids, teens and adults during the month of June, as well as lists fun summer camps taking place in the Valdosta area.
-
Man shot by FBI had ties to Boston bombing suspect
A Chechen immigrant shot to death in Florida after an altercation with an FBI agent implicated himself in a triple slaying that officials believe may have been connected to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, authorities said.
-
WHO: Scientific red tape mars efforts vs. virus
International efforts to combat a new pneumonia-like virus that has now killed 22 people are being slowed by unclear rules and competition for the potentially profitable rights to disease samples, the head of the World Health Organization warned Thursday.
-
Jurors deadlock on Jodi Arias penalty; retrial set
Jurors who spent five months determining Jodi Arias’ fate couldn’t decide whether she should get life in prison or die for murdering her boyfriend, sending prosecutors back to the drawing board to rehash the shocking case of sex, lies and violence to another 12 people.
-
Lt. Gov. visits Valdosta
Lt. Governor Casey Cagle delivered a message of optimism and preference for prudent investments for Valdosta and Lowndes County Thursday morning, which he is confident will pull Georgia out of recession, build jobs and launch Valdosta into a new business heyday.
- More Top News Headlines
-
