Marine surprises family when he returns from Uganda sooner than expected

MARINE LYTLE MAKES AN UNEXPECTED, EARLY APPEARANCE
Marine surprises family when he returns from Uganda sooner than expected
Daily Record
By BOBBY WARREN Staff Writer
Published: January 19, 2014

WOOSTER -- Members of the John and Lydia Lytle family filled Declaration CrossFit Friday afternoon, and they all looked ready for a rigorous round of training.

Donning workout gear, the family bided their time waiting for a reporter and photographer to get some video equipment set up to do a story about the business, which is owned by the couple's four children.

Just about the time everything was ready to go, a big, burly, red-headed man busted through the large, steel door, surprising them and bringing them to tears.

Wally Lytle, a Marine who spent most of the past year deployed in Uganda, was home, and it utterly shocked his parents and siblings.

Lydia Lytle screamed and buried her face in her hands. The petite woman leapt into the large arms of her son and clutched him tightly around the neck. Still in tears, she just stepped away, directing others to welcome the U.S. Marine Corps sergeant home as she tried to process everything unfolding before her.

"It's wonderful," Lydia Lytle said. "It's great. I can't believe he's home. It's been a long time."

It's been 227 days, to be exact. Lauren Hicks knows.

Hicks shed tears, too, when she saw her boyfriend bust through the doorway.
read more here

Jan 18, 2014
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Wally Lytle shocked his family when he came home from deployment in Uganda a week earlier than they expected him. You have to see his mother's reaction. It is priceless.

Platoon of Marines moved to Uganda After Four Navy SEALS Wounded

Platoon of Marines moved to Uganda amid South Sudan crisis
Stars and Stripes
By Jon Harper
Published: December 26, 2013

WASHINGTON — A platoon of U.S. Marines was moved from Djibouti to Uganda on Tuesday in the event the fighting in neighboring South Sudan deteriorates further.

“This forward posturing provides the Combatant Commander additional options and the ability to more quickly respond, if required, to help protect U.S. personnel and facilities,” U.S. Africa Command said in a statement.

AFRICOM said this contingent of some 40 Marines and a KC-130J aircraft are now in Entebbe, the capital of Uganda.

The KC-130J transport plane has airborne assault capabilities, and is also used for medevac, search and rescue, and aerial refueling.

“These movements were made with the full knowledge and cooperation of the Ugandan authorities,” AFRICOM said.

A Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response unit was moved Monday from Moron, Spain, to Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, after an incident in which four Navy SEALs were wounded during an aborted rescue operation in South Sudan.

The SEALs were trying to evacuate American citizens from the city of Bor on Saturday when the Osprey aircraft they were flying in came under small arms fire while they were trying to land.

Three of the SEALs were transported to Landstuhl earlier in the week; the fourth was stabilized at a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, and was moved to Landstuhl on Christmas day.
read more here