BANGOR, Maine — Four generations of Tech. Sgt. Clinton Brown’s family turned out at Bangor International Airport on Wednesday to celebrate the return of the Maine Air National Guard’s 101st Civil Engineering Squadron after its six-month deployment to Iraq.
“We’re all real proud of him. It’ll be good to see him home,” said his father, Phil Brown, of Old Town, who served with the Maine Air National Guard from 1959 to 1963.
“Six months is a long time,” added his grandmother, Dorothy Chaison, also of Old Town.
Before heading to BIA for their reunion — one of dozens of similar homecomings that were celebrated Wednesday night — Brown’s extended family, including his girlfriend, Greta Neptune, and 8-year-old daughter, Brianna Brown, had decorated Brown’s home and ordered a special cake.
“And it’s chocolate with peanut butter icing, his favorite,” Chaison said.
Members of the Old Town soldier’s family were among the hundreds of people who packed the terminal at BIA to welcome the civil engineering squadron members home from their mission, which involved a series of maintenance tasks at Sather Air Base at Baghdad International Airport.
All of the 41 squadron members sent to Baghdad returned safely, said Lt. Col. Michael Matthews, who filled in for the squadron’s commander, Lt. Col. David Vashon, during the deployment.
Many of those on hand for the event said they had been on a bit of an emotional roller coaster over the past few days. Because of a series of delays, the unit, which was initially scheduled to arrive shortly after noon Tuesday, didn’t set foot on U.S. soil until after 6 p.m. Wednesday.
By then, the crowd lining the ramp into the terminal was so deep that several people stood on chairs so they could get their first glimpse of the loved ones they haven’t seen since the group left Maine last July 2.
By the time the plane carrying the unit, as well as troops from units from other states, flew into Bangor, the anticipation in the air at the terminal was almost palpable.
Though every returned soldier was greeted with cheers and clapping, the volume went up considerably when the 101st members, who disembarked last, walked down the ramp and into the terminal.
Jessica O’Connell, 22, of Brewer, could barely contain her excitement as she and her brother, 19-year-old Kyle O’Connell, waited to see her father, Master Sgt. Kevin O’Connell.
“I am so happy, so excited,” she said as she held up a hand-lettered sign that read “O’Connell rules!”
Gayle O’Connell, who married the Brewer soldier less than a month before he left for Iraq, called the time apart “absolutely crazy.”
Though the newlyweds kept in regular telephone and e-mail contact, she said those were no match for having O’Connell home in person. Now that he’s back, she added, the two could finally embark on their long-awaited honeymoon to the Dominican Republic.
Senior Master Sgt. Michael Voteur’s welcome delegation included his wife, Christine, and daughters, Jenna, 8, and Lauren, 4.
Christine Voteur said that one of the Orrington family’s first activities will include celebrating Christmas together. She said she put up a tree for a small celebration with the girls just before Christmas so that it would be relatively fresh when her husband returned.
Voteur said she was ecstatic to have her husband home.
“It’s been a challenge,” said Voteur, a social worker, about holding down the fort while her husband was overseas.
As a surprise for the girls, the Voteurs said they planned to head south for a five-day cruise to the Bahamas and a visit to Sea World.