GARDEN CITY, N.Y. -- The wives and children of Marines with 2nd, 25th Marines based in Garden City spent the past five months in worry. Yesterday morning at six, some were out on Stewart Avenue pinning yellow and red, white, and blue ribbons to every tree for a quarter mile. Balmy temperatures and the threat of rain weren't keeping them away or the thousand other family members who showed up later. Their Marines were coming home.
The reserve battalion had just returned from a year-long activation and deployment to Camp Lejeune, N.C., when they received their marching orders for March 15. By the end of the month they were in Kuwait. In April they were at An-Nasiriya.
While in An-Nasiriya, the Marines worked to rebuild the town that some of the heaviest fighting for Marines during Operation Iraqi Freedom. They distributed medical supplies, desalinated water, rebuilt schools, and reestablished an Iraqi police force - a task the battalion excelled at since about 100 Marines are police officers when not wearing camouflage.
The buses carrying the Marines - accompanied by a police escort - pulled up at the reserve center at around 11:30 a.m. to a screaming crowd of about 1,000. As Marines with the Inspector-Instructor staff and 1st Marine Corps District guard force held the crowd back, the reservists unboarded the buses and headed into the center to store gear and handle final paperwork. Kathy DuPont, however, managed to break from the crowd and hugged her husband Gunnery Sgt Jim DuPont as he got off the bus.
The crowd stayed pressed against the heavy gate as the Marines worked inside. Weapons Company came out first around 1:30 p.m. to shouts of "U.S.A," "Marines are the best!" and "Daddy!" They formed up in front of the building, did a right face and marched sharply out the gate, dissapearing into the crowd of ecstatic families. Headquarters and Service Company followed about ten minutes later.