Chris' Return

We got word last night that Tricia's brother Chris, who has been stationed in Baghdad with the 612th Engineering Battalion, has arrived at Camp Atterbury in southern Indiana. He'll be arriving in Norwalk this Friday for a few days, then back to Atterbury for some wrap-up.

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He's not out of danger yet, though. He and some of his friends were heading over to the NCO club for a beer or two, which they couldn't have while in Iraq.

The picture shows Company C during the last couple of weeks of their tour. Chris is on the top row, far right, holding a gun he never had to fire in combat (and that's a good thing). If I have my facts right, the 612th (all three companies) only lost one person on their tour, and that one was an issue of carelessness on that person's part. There were a couple of close calls, where one company or another saw an IED go off before they got in range.

We believe strongly in the good things being achieved by our military, and we're extremely proud of Chris for his service, but we're equally relieved that he's home again.