Miss Laura, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches welcome Marines home at Camp Pendelton

Coming or going, she's there for the Marines

By Tony Perry
April 6, 2009
Reporting from March Air Reserve Base near Riverside -- In her red-white-and-blue golf cart, Laura Froehlich is driving toward the flight line to greet Marines returning from Iraq.

"This is a good day," Froehlich says. "They're coming home."


As volunteer coordinator (an unpaid position) for March Air Reserve Base, Froehlich has missed only a handful of the hundreds of flights that have taken U.S. military personnel to or from Iraq and Afghanistan since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The troops on the flight early Sunday were from the 2nd Battalion, 25th Regiment, a reserve group from Garden City, N.Y., attached to the 5th Marine Regiment at Camp Pendleton.

As always, Froehlich wanted to give each Marine a handshake, a hug and a word of welcome and appreciation. She was there when the battalion left for Iraq in September.


"She was the last person to say goodbye to us and now she's the first person to say hello," says Chief Warrant Officer William Allen.

While they wait for buses to take them to Pendleton, the Marines sample food, sodas and cellphones handed out by Froehlich's volunteer recruits in Hangar 385. The hangar is decorated with flags, posters and children's artwork and features a large-screen television, a pool table, books and magazines.

"Miss Laura is the greatest," says Gunnery Sgt. Rafael Ortiz, who is stationed at March to help with departing and arriving flights.

"A lot of these Marines don't have anyone waiting for them at Camp Pendleton," Ortiz says. "They come here and get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and they know they're home and safe."
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