Marines return from Iraq; families are there waiting

Marines return from Iraq; families are there waiting

By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
12:16 PM PDT, October 5, 2008
CAMP PENDLETON -- While other children nearby were playing and laughing, 4-year-old Jaden Williams was quietly focused on one thought:

"My daddy is coming home today," he said in a calm but resolute voice.

Indeed, Marine Cpl. George Williams, 22, was among 170-plus Marines and sailors from the 1st Intelligence Battalion, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force who were enjoying their first morning home today after a seven-month deployment to Iraq.

As word spread throughout the sprawling base that the plane bringing the troops had landed Saturday night at March Reserve Air Base in Riverside, hundreds of family members anxiously assembled at a parade ground to await the buses bringing the troops home.

Long ago, the Marine Corps held the view that if a Marine were meant to have a family, the corps would have issued him one. "You don't hear anybody say that anymore," said Sgt.-Major Donald George, a 26-year veteran of the corps.


Now, there are myriad programs to help stay-behind spouses and their children cope with loneliness and stress brought on by each deployment. These days, the mantra is "combat readiness starts with family readiness." Jaden Williams is old enough to havea basic idea about why his father went away, said his mother, Jewel Williams, 21.
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