Huntley soldier returns from Iraq in style

Sometimes, we reporters have to go above and beyond the call of duty.

This was the case on Thanksgiving Day, when I was assigned to cover Joe Rieker's return to his Huntley home.

Rieker, 25, had spent the last 15 months in the U.S. Army fighting in Iraq and was due to arrive in style.

That's because stepmother Ceil Rieker arranged to have the Warriors Watch Riders escort Joe home.

The only catch was that Joe's father Eric, also Ceil's husband, wasn't supposed to know anything about it.

So I basically played along for two hours with the rest of the family, pretending I didn't know anything.

It was initially supposed to be a half-hour wait, but ended up being two hours because Rieker was two hours late

I did what I could to keep the charade going.

This was especially important because one of the neighbors earlier in the day told Eric Rieker about the Warriors' Watch plan.

But Ceil Reiker denied everything and her husband believed her.

During those two hours, the riders repeatedly called Ceil Rieker to ask where Joe was, and vice versa - they were at a local grocery store waiting to escort him home.

So when Ceil Rieker took the phone into the laundry room, I coughed so her husband couldn't hear her end of the conversation.

At other times when he was within earshot, but couldn't see me, I would talk so he'd think his wife and I were having a conversation.

About an hour later, Ceil's daughter Dawn Cottini and granddaughter Tabitha, 16, showed up, so they helped take the burden off me.

While Ceil worked the phones, we distracted Eric Rieker by talking about weapons, the war and politics - he too is a veteran, having served in the U.S. Navy in Libya.

There was so much panic in the house, though, because nobody knew where Joe Rieker was; he was not answering his cell phone.

All we knew was that he had left the airport to see relatives in Northbrook, but they all said he had already left.

And he had not yet arrived at the grocery store to meet the Warriors' Watch Riders.

We were all on edge, fearful that something bad had happened to the young veteran.

It turned out that Bob Rieker, Joe Rieker's grandfather, had taken a wrong turn between Northbrook and Huntley - that's why they were two hours late.

And Joe Rieker didn't answer his cell phone because the battery died.

When he finally showed up on a motorcycle, his father was speechless.

He stood on the driveway for a few seconds taking photos of his son and then the two finally collapsed into each others' arms.

Neighbors all rushed over to hug the young veteran, who was happy to see everyone and had hugs and kisses for all, especially Tabitha, his step-niece.

Surprisingly, he even had a hug for me.

Stunned, I said, "I'm Lenore from the Daily Herald," thinking this was some kind of mistake.

He smiled and said, "I'm Joe from the 101st Airborne."

• Lenore Adkins covers Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, McHenry County College and Pingree Grove. To reach her, call (847) 608-2725 or send an e-mail to ladkins@dailyherald.com