Families gather for soldiers' homecomings
Erin Schroeder of Schaumburg waited anxiously, holding a sign that read, "Welcome home my hero," on Saturday as she stood on the floor of the Allstate Arena in Rosemont.
She awaited the sight of her new husband, Cpl. Michael Schroeder, returning from his third deployment to Iraq.
"We eloped three days before he was deployed, so I'm pretty excited to see him," Schroeder said.
"So much has happened since he's been gone," she added. "We've moved to the suburbs, and he hasn't even seen the house yet."
In all, more than 2,500 family members gathered for the homecoming. They held flags, posters and balloons, and some wore T-shirts with their loved one's name on it. Many of the wives cradled babies their husbands hadn't seen yet.
They waited eagerly for nearly 325 members of a Chicago-based reserve Marine battalion, including 150 members of a weapons unit based in Waukegan, who spent the last seven months just outside Fallujah, providing security to the region.
The battalion returned with all but two Marines, who had been killed during the deployment. Officials added that during their last deployment, three years ago, they lost 14 in all.
Sirens alerted the crowd that the caravan was arriving. They came in luxury buses from Midway Airport, escorted by members of the Patriot Guard leading the motorcade, along with police squad cars from the surrounding suburban communities.
When they arrived, the company made a dramatic entrance into a darkened arena, marching in before screaming family members, while the Bulls' theme song played over the public address system.
Each Marine carried a long stemmed yellow rose, given to them by members of the USO, to present to their mother, wife or girlfriend. When their commander finally released them, they frantically looked for their names on signs and wove their way through the crowd to find their family members.
Missy Frakes, of downstate Woodhull, cradled 10-month old Ava, who was born during the group's training before their deployment. She waited with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, and held a sign that read, "Team Frakes."
"It takes a team to get through this," Frakes said. "I couldn't do this without them."
Lance Corp. Ryan Nolan, 19, of Chicago, hugged his parents tightly, and his siblings, before climbing up to the second level of seats to greet his aunt and cousins.
"This is the best feeling I've ever had in my life," said the 2007 Marian Catholic High School graduate. "I'm actually shaking."