National Guard troops are 'deployed' home for the holidays

East Lyme - Tears were shed and hugs exchanged Tuesday night at Camp Rell in Niantic as the Army National Guard's 250th Engineer Company arrived home just in time for the holidays - and for the last time before being deployed to Iraq.

"I feel like a kid before Christmas," said Mark Ward, stepfather of 27-year-old Reservist Andrea Reynolds, while waiting for his daughter to arrive. "I've always been proud, but if possible I'm even prouder. She's just such a good girl."

The event was made possible largely through the effort of Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who launched Operation Home for the Holidays in October. The fundraising effort, whose goal was to raise $200,000 to bring two Connecticut-based companies home for Christmas, exceeded all expectations by raising almost $300,000.

"It's good for them to honor the soldiers besides the times they come home in a box," said Dennis Suggs, the father of 21-year-old Pvt. Darice Hill. "There's an old expression: Give me flowers now, don't bring flowers to my grave."

Today, the 1st Battalion, 102nd Infantry Regiment will come home thanks to the efforts of Operation Home for the Holidays. It will be the last time those soldiers will see their families before being deployed to Afghanistan.

Rell's effort raised money to pay for buses to drive the soldiers home, a 1,000-mile ride for the 250th Company, which was training in Wisconsin.

"Twenty-two hours," Reservist Gerard Cummings said, referring to the bus ride. "Although all that was worth it to finally get to see my wife and kids."

The men will be home for a week before boarding the bus again to Wisconsin. They will stay there for a couple of weeks before going to Iraq.

"We're going to be pulling bridges, taking them down, after we taught Iraq how to build their own," Reservist Jeremy Mayberry said. "They said when we pull out all our bridges people will start getting out of there."

Although nothing is yet official, the soldiers will likely stay a year overseas.

"I'm a little nervous about him spending a year away from his son's life," said Dana Lamb, mother of 26-year-old Brian Macy. "It is his obligation, but I have mixed feelings."

Macy was a professional boxer in the area, having fought several bouts at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, but joined the Army National Guard to help better support his 2-year-old son, Charlie.

"They let him think he wouldn't get deployed to Iraq, certainly not right away," brother John Macy said. "But he only got out of boot camp in the summer, and look, he's sent almost right away."

Food was served at 5:30 p.m. at Camp Rell for families waiting for their loved ones. Anxiety, tension and text-message alerts filled the room as the bus was stuck in traffic and took an extra hour to finally arrive.

"It's hard to deal with," Richard Karatkivcz, father of 25-year-old reservist Justin Karatkicz. "Boot camp was one thing, but you knew he was going to come home safe. Iraq is a totally different thing."

Justin Karatkicz is part of a triad of best friends that, one-by-one, talked each other into joining the Army National Guard.

"Well, at first my husband (Tyler Parsons) enlisted, and then he tried to get Justin to enlist," Catherine Parsons said. "Then Justin got his other friend (Scott Schaub) to enlist, so now all three can go to Iraq together."

"I'm glad they have each other, even if they won't necessarily see each other all the time," Justin Karatkicz's fiancee, Elizabeth Martucci, said. "At least they have somebody out there to rely on and be with."