OK, let's take a short break from the Hazlett family Christmas so I can tell you about somethin' I saw today on base.

After lunch I was standing outside the college office which is situated across from one of the headquarters buildings. The music caught our attention and then we saw the crowds and the buses coming up. Soldiers were coming home, and their families were waiting to see them.

They let about 5 bus loads of soldiers out on the opposite side of the road from the building where their families were waiting, which has a huge field of grass behind it for just such occasions. They got the soldiers in formation, flanked by cavalry soldiers on horseback in 1870s era uniforms and equipment.

The buses drove away and the soldiers fell into the view of their families for the first time in 15 months! They marched in formation up to where their families were, their commander said something over the loud speaker that we couldn't discern, and then they were all cut loose to finally reunite with one another. It all happened very fast.

There was a surge as the soldiers and family members came together. It was like watching two medieval armies running into one another and coming to blows from a distance, only it was cheering and laughter that filled the air, with a few balloons slipping into the sky as mothers, fathers and children lost their grip in the emotion of the moment.

One of my colleagues mentioned the big welcome home party the 4th I.D. soldiers got when they came home in 2003, after the initial invasion. They had Lynnard Skynnard and several other big entertainers here and a huge bash. I said "Yea, that was back when we thought the war would last 6 months", and they grunted an agreement. Now the homecomings are more circumspect, but no less meaningful for the participants.

As it wound down we saw one soldier, obviously without a family to greet him, walking through our parking lot with what looked like an 80 or 90 pound pack on his back and another slung across his chest. As he walked by, obviously tired beyond tired, I shouted "Welcome home man!". He turned with a huge grin and said "Thank you sir!", took a few steps more and then tossed part of his load on the ground to wait for his ride, and grabbed a cigarette from another soldier.

I tell ya what, I love this job, and the opportunity it gives me to see this stuff for myself each day. And I love these people. Many of them will be in my classes in a month or so. Here's hopin' they all spend the rest of their lives in the warm embrace of their family and friends and that everything they go through in the rest of their life is easier than the terrifying crap that's now finally behind them. Here's hopin'.