Michigan Army National Guardsmen Welcomed Home

Families welcome home soldiers of Michigan National Guard 144th Military Police Company
MLive.com
by Molly Young
on January 23, 2014

Sgt. Tyler Vandeberghe, 22, of Clinton Township, leans in to kiss his girlfriend, Lindsay Rosenzweig, of Ann Arbor, as the two reunite in the bleachers as more than 150 Michigan Army National Guard soldiers of the 144th Military Police Company return home from Afghanistan on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014 at Owosso High School in Owosso. The two calculated they had been apart 271 days. "I about lost it," Vandeberghe said of seeing his family and girlfriend with a 20-foot-wide welcome home poster in the gymnasium. "As soon as I could, I ran to her. It felt really good having her in my arms again. It was perfect." Jake May | MLive.com

OWOSSO, MI -- James VanDusen, 3, couldn't help but stare – and touch and grab and kiss – at the face that'd been missing from his life for the last nine months while his dad, Capt. John Van Dusen, talked to reporters Thursday, Jan. 23.

"When I left, he was barely talking," said VanDusen, who lives in L'Anse in the Upper Peninsula. "Now he talks all the time, so that'll be a big adjustment."

Families reunite with more than 150 Michigan soldiers at Owosso homecoming on Jan. 23, 2014 at Owosso High School.

Hundreds of Michigan families are complete again after 153 soldiers returned from Afghanistan Thursday morning. The Michigan Army National Guard soldiers from the Owosso-based 144th Military Police Company were deployed for more than nine months in Afghanistan. The unit has members from all over Michigan.

"(My son) gave me a big hug and a big kiss and said, 'I have my daddy back,'" VanDusen said of the moment he first saw his son after the ceremony.

James was well-dressed and ready for the occasion, wearing his army-green, military-style T-shirt that read "Major Hunk."
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