2 Lake in the Hills soldiers head home

Two Lake in the Hills men have very different reasons for joining the army.

Spc. Shawn Rhoney, 25, began his military career because he didn't have much money for college and couldn't get the 9/11 terrorist attacks off his mind, according to his mother, Dolores.

And Sgt. James Pease, 24, signed up because he needed direction in his life after bouncing from job to job to job, his mother, Sharon, said.

"The army's the best thing that ever happened to him," she said.

But they still have a lot in common.

Both of them were stationed in Iraq for 15 months as combat medics.

Both of them saw that serving their country was their ticket to a better life and joined the Army in 2003.

And this weekend, both of them are coming home.

About 7 p.m. Friday, Rhoney and his family will be escorted home from O'Hare International Airport in style.

The Patriot Guard motorcycle riders will escort Rhoney from the airport down I-90 to Randall Road. There, they'll be met by the Lake in the Hills Police Department and the Algonquin/Lake in the Hills Fire Department for a triumphant return to town.

Then he'll head to a party in his honor at American Legion Post 1231, 1101 W. Algonquin Road, just east of Pyott Road.

Sunday, because he's driving to Lake in the Hills from Colorado, Pease and his family will go through a flag line in Lake in the Hills set up by the same local groups. Together, they'll attend a 1 p.m. party at Lake in the Hills village hall.

And now that their sons are inbound, both mothers say they can breathe again and focus on their homecomings.

"I feel for all the soldiers out there, all their families, and it's hard, you know, I think of some of the soldiers that aren't coming home," Dolores Rhoney said through tears. "He's in one piece and we're very, very thankful to God for that."