Some Military Families In Hudson Want Bigger Homecoming For Mass. Soldiers
HUDSON (CBS) - Hundreds of Massachusetts troops are coming home from Afghanistan this week to a hero's welcome.
But some families of one National Guard company are upset that their homecoming won't be as big as they were hoping.
There have already been many homecoming celebrations around the area. The 181st infantry regiment came home to a warm reception in Cambridge this weekend.
The members of the "Charlie Company" just came back from a yearlong deployment in Afghanistan. There were lots of hugs and kisses, signs, flags and banners to greet them.
WBZ-TV's David Robichaud reports.
It's the kind of treatment family members would like to give to soldiers of the "D" company out of Hudson, but, they say that won't happen right away.
They have been planning for a huge welcome home celebration on Wednesday, but, because of logistics,
the group of soldiers will likely be spit up and flown into a couple of different airports.
"There is no other feeling to that family member than to watch that soldier be escorted in by the police, get off that bus and you're waiting, and the excitement is so high, the balloons are flying, the banners are there, the crowd is roaring. It's like as if they were a superstar walking off the bus, and that's how we want them to feel," said Sue Savage, whose husband has been in the National Guard for 27 years.
The problem is, one-hundred soldiers are needed to book a charter flight. "D" Company has 85 coming home.
A National Guard spokesperson tells CBSBoston.com there has been no finalized plan, but, any attempt to get all the soldiers together for a formal return would most likely result in delaying their homecoming.
"Absolutely the last thing we want to do is delay their return. We want them back as quickly as possible," says Sgt. 1st Class Don Veitch.
Sgt. 1st Class Veitch says that first and foremost on the soldiers' minds is getting home to see their families and officials want to make sure that happens.
The military is planning a formal homecoming celebration that will be scheduled for a later date.
