Community welcomes soldier back home to Huntley

When Army Specialist Joe Rieker was fighting insurgents in Iraq for the past 15 months, it was a small, wallet-sized photo of his step-niece Tabitha Cottini that he turned to as a morale booster.

Thanksgiving Day, Rieker, 25, of Huntley, got to embrace Tabitha, 16, of Palatine, and the rest of his family in person.

He will spend the next few days getting used to civilian life before resuming his military career Sunday in Kentucky. Eventually, he will move on to Germany.

"It's weird, but it's awesome, of course," he said of finally coming home.

Rieker arrived home in style.

Motorcyclists from Warriors' Watch Riders picked Rieker up from a local grocery store on Route 47. He rode on the lead motorcycle to his parents' home in Sun City, and other riders escorted the sport utility vehicle his grandparents, Pauline and Bob Rieker, were driving.

The loud motorcade drew neighbors out of their homes, some of whom screamed and jumped up and down at the sound of the engines roaring.

The entire block, decorated in American flags, went wild when Rieker pulled into the driveway.

They and his family ran over to embrace him, kiss him and thank him for his service.

Several took pictures and applauded.

"I was excited, but of course I was excited anyway, because people came to congratulate me," Rieker said.

The elaborate welcome home was all a surprise to Rieker's father, Eric.

Rieker's stepmother, Ceil, made the elaborate preparations in secret to surprise her husband.

A former military man, Eric Rieker said he knew something was up, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

That was mission accomplished for his wife, who said her stepson deserved a huge welcome home after being at war for so long.

"It's over hopefully, and he'll never have to go back," she said.

Meanwhile, Eric Rieker said his son's return home has made him whole again.

"I love my family so much and America's the best place in the world to have a family," Eric Rieker said.

Rieker was fashionably late for dinner because his grandparents, who he was visiting in Northbrook, took a wrong turn to get to Huntley.

"We got here safe, that's the important thing," Pauline Rieker said.

At the sight of Rieker, Tabitha and her mother, Dawn, started to cry, then rushed over to hug and kiss him on the bike.

"It's just really great, really exciting," Tabitha said.

Rieker comes from a long line of veterans on both sides of the family.

His father was stationed in Libya with the Navy in 1981.

Rieker's grandfather, Bob, served with the Army in World War II, his great grandfather Joe, who Rieker is named for, fought in the Spanish-American War in the Army and his great-great grandfather John, fought with the Union Army during the Civil War.

Additionally, Rieker's mother, Rosa, was stationed in Kentucky and Tennessee during the Vietnam War with the Army.

Rieker's maternal grandfather, Salvador Joseph Abbate, received the Purple Heart in the Korean War when he was a sergeant in the Marines.

That lengthy military history was the main reason Rieker joined the service in 2002, right out of high school.

"Maybe it's in my genes, all of our genes," Rieker said. "It breeds some kind of patriotism of a desire to serve."

And now he has something else in common with them - war stories.

Rieker sustained a minor injury on his left arm when insurgents destroyed the vehicle he was riding in.

But Thanksgiving and the subsequent weekend will be a time to reconnect with his family and get used to sitting in his favorite chair, not to talk shop, he said.

"I just got home," he said. "I don't want to think about Iraq."