Soldiers coming home today

Mark Maynard/The Independent

Cannonsburg May 21, 2008 11:39 pm

— Soldiers from the 396th Engineer Company, 478th Battalion, are coming home today after a second tour of duty in Iraq.
They are expected to arrive between noon and 3 p.m. at the Army Reserve Center on Midland Trail Road across from Boyd County High School.
The community is invited to join the soldiers’ families in welcoming them home by bringing flags, banners and posters supporting the troops.
The unit actually returned to Camp Atterbury in Indiana on Saturday.
The unit has been in Iraq for nine months. It left last May for training in Wisconsin and then went on to Iraq. The 70 troops in the Ashland unit are part of the larger 478th that includes about 500 troops.
Carla Adkins, who is helping to organize the return home for the soldiers, hopes to have a good turnout. Her son, Capt. Daniel Bailey, is among the soldiers in the unit.
“As far as we know, either the guys have notified the families or we’ve notified them,” she said. “We hope to have a big crowd. We’re telling family and friends, community people and churches about it.”
Carla said there isn’t a formal ceremony planned.
“They’re coming in by bus,” she said. “We want them to come home and let them go with their families. It’s been a long time.”
MARK MAYNARD can be reached at mmaynard@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2648.