St Thomas family and friends wait for their loved
one to arrive at the UVI campus from King Airport
St Croix Staff Sgt Julian Williams, 610th QM CO,
embraces his little daughter
Adj. General Eddy Charles addresses St Croix
Guard members and their families.
ST THOMAS, USVI: St Croix and St Thomas members of the US Virgin Islands National Guard returned to their respective island homes on Sunday, October 30, after a lengthly deployment to Iraq.
When they disembarked their plane, they were shuttled to the UVI St Thomas campus where they were greeted with a large sign, "The Virgin Islands National Guard Welcomes Home our Warriors." However, if shouts of joy from loved ones, and the number of long embraces are an indicator they probably did not notice the sign for a while.
The 103 soldiers then received a formal 'thank you' from Adj. Gen. Eddy Charles, and other National Guard leaders. A representative of Gov. Charles Turnbull who was off-island, Acting Governor Bernice Turnbull, expressed both appreciation and pride in the soldiers and they tour of duty.
In recent weeks the USVI National Guard conducted meetings to assist family members in helping soldiers to re-orient to family and civilian life. During the month the USVI Guard held celebrations on both St Thomas and St Croix to commemorate 33 years of service duty to the United States.