Soldiers return after year in Kosovo

Five months of training. Twelve months in Kosovo. An hour in a broken-down bus near Indianapolis.

Monday morning, the bus hauling the Ohio Army National Guard unit to its formal welcome-home ceremony at The Chapel pulled up lame.

The trip home took little bit longer. But they made it.

"It's nothing new," Sgt. Frank Ranalli of Perry Township said. "We've dealt with every obstacle on this deployment. Why not add one more?"

The 90-plus members of Company D, 1st Battalion, 148th Infantry Regiment, based in Green, had been in Kosovo since Nov. 18, 2006. They were mobilized five months before that, training in Indiana and then Germany before joining the NATO-led peacekeeping operation.

The return was sweet.

"There's no words to describe it," Ranalli said, a look of pure joy on his face, his 2-year old daughter, Katelyn, in his arms. "It's great to come home."

Music from bagpipes and hearty applause accompanied the soldiers to their seats as the formal welcome-home ceremony began. Speeches were delivered, many beginning with the speaker graciously promising brevity. After all, these soldiers just wanted to be with their families.

"Wow, that was a long deployment, was it not?" captain Joseph Adams said at the beginning of his speech.

While in Kosovo, the soldiers conducted 1,000 patrols, including 22 boundary patrols with the Serbian Army. The 250,000 miles they drove was 30,000 more than any other unit.

"It was a pretty peaceful mission," said Phillip Patti, executive officer. "Mostly dismounted patrols, walking, getting out talking with people, and the guys really enjoyed that."

During a break before a more informal gathering was held, the soldiers mingled with their families. Sgt. Adam Conn, of Cambridge, visited with his wife and 21-month-old son, Aidan.

Conn hadn't seen his family in six months.

"I wish they wouldn't keep us here. All the soldiers just want to go home," he said. "We appreciate everybody, but we just want to go home."

Conn had been deployed before, including a four-month stint in Iraq.

"It's a little surreal at first, returning, seeing each other again," Stephanie, his wife, said. "It always takes a couple days to kick in that they're actually here."

Reach Repository writer Joseph Gartrell at (330) 580-8562 or by e-mail joe.gartrell@cantonrep.com