Charles Oliver
Dalton Daily Citizen
DALTON — In the distance, they heard the faint echoes of sirens heralding the imminent arrival of the soldiers of Charlie Troop. For the students of City Park School, lined along Crawford Street, this was their cue to begin chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A!” They didn’t stop until several minutes later, after the last vehicles escorting the homecoming soldiers to Harmon Field had passed by.
Like many of the students, second-grader Laeshia Ochoa had made a sign saying “Welcome Home” that she held up to the troops as their vehicles passed by.
“I worked on it about two hours,” she said. “I’m happy to see them come home.”
Kindergarten teacher Maggie Robinson said the day was very special to her. Her husband Larry Ray Robinson is a member of Charlie Troop, but he wasn’t among those arriving in Dalton on Tuesday.
“He flew to Texas this morning. He’s going to be at the (U.S. Army’s) Sergeants Major Academy for the next three weeks,” said Robinson. “I’m so glad they are home, and I’m happy the school has done this. I waited a year. I can wait three more weeks.”
Robinson said her students had been excited all day about getting to welcome the soldiers home.
“That’s all they could talk about. They wanted to know when they would get here, and they wanted to know what they had been doing over there. You just try to explain it to them in language a kindergartner can understand,” she said.
At the corner of Crawford Street and Thornton Avenue the family of Spc. William Jackson was waiting to welcome the LaFayette resident home.
“It has been a long time,” said his father Bobby Jackson. “I’m anxious, glad, excited, happy. The date they were going to come home has changed so many times. It was frustrating at times, but we got to go see them last weekend at Fort Stewart. It’s all part of the game, and we’ve learned to deal with it.”
Across the street, just outside the Whitfield County Courthouse, Kelly Taylor and Alicia Cardenas held up a sign welcoming home Lance Rogers, a co-worker at Shiroki North America.
“We just wanted to let him know we care about him and that we are glad that he and all the other gentlemen got home safely,” said Taylor.
Judy Boyd said she didn’t know anyone in Charlie Troop but she does have a nephew in the military and it was important to her to welcome the soldiers home.
“We need to always be here for them,” she said.
