Local Marines welcomed home in St Charles

Bill and Laurie Milbourn's neighbors said they knew something was brewing when they recently saw Laurie cleaning the windows at the couple's St. Charles home.

For weeks, the Milbourn's had been planning a surprise welcome home party for their son Nick Milbourn, 24, who returned from a tour of Iraq last week.

While neighbors suspected a special event looming, Nick Milbourn and his friends - Greg Russell, 26, of Naperville, and Phil Akins, 23, of St. Charles - said they received the shock of their lives when they were greeted by dozens of friends and relatives after a lunch at a St. Charles restaurant. The trio were chauffeured from downtown St. Charles to the Milbourn home in a limousine flanked by members of Warriors' Watch.

The secret was revealed when the men exited the Beehive Tavern & Grille to a flag line, bag pipes and dozens of friends and relatives.

"It is an honor that my friends who served before me are being honored, too," Nick Milbourn said. "I want to say thank you for what you do for our country. It's why I decided to join the Marines."

Russell, who was discharged from the service in 2005, said he didn't suspect a thing - even when he went to the back of the restaurant and saw the motorcycles and people milling around.

"This is the biggest surprise I have even seen in my entire life," he said. "I am usually pretty good at picking up on stuff, but I had no idea."

Akins and Milbourn said the welcome home party was the morale booster all troops need.

"I had no idea I would be waking up to this, this morning," Akins said, standing on the front lawn of the Milbourn home. "I have been home for two years, and I never got a reception like this ... It's pretty crazy."

Nick Milbourn and Akins were teammates on the Tri-City Chargers 95-pound football team about 12 years ago. The were unexpectedly reunited while serving with the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq.

The realization that an old friend was nearby didn't occur to either Akins or Nick Milbourn for about a week after the two went out on patrol. Nick Milbourn said he recognized Akins because of the glasses he was wearing.

"He was wearing goggles, these Rec Specs that he used to wear when he played Pee Wee," Nick Milbourn said. "So I recognized him from that."