Joy and relief at homecoming
Trisha Leong said her Navy husband's seven-month deployment to Iraq was tough on her.
While maintaining her job as a health aide at Mokapu Elementary School she also cared for their six children, including 5-year-old triplets and a 16-year-old son who suffers from a rare disability and has behavioral problems.
She expressed both joy and relief last night as she welcomed home her husband, Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeffrey Leong, knowing he put his life on the line.
"It's a sacrifice for him and it's a family sacrifice," she said. "Because he's fighting for everybody's freedom. It's not just for him, but it's for everybody."
Jeffrey Leong, a hospital corpsman, was one of about 560 Marines and sailors with the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment who returned to Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe. About half of the group came in at about 8:45 p.m. while the rest arrived at about 1:30 a.m. today.
Another 300 were to arrive at about 11 a.m. today. Eleven members of the battalion were killed during the deployment, mostly by improvised explosive devices.
"Every Marine in the battalion is affected by that," said Battalion executive officer Maj. Pat Beckett. With about 1,000 in the battalion, the losses were not personal for everyone, but each of the five companies lost Marines, he said.
"Our hearts will always be with them," said Leong, who treated the sick, wounded and dying, and knew a couple of the Marines who died.
Despite the losses, "the morale of the unit is very high," Beckett said.
The battalion was deployed in the Haditha Triad, consisting of the cities of Haditha, Haqlania and Barwana.
In addition to their operations to find and kill insurgents, the Marines worked to develop the Iraqi army and a local police force, which had been wiped out by the insurgents use of "murder and intimidation," Beckett said.
Cpl. Gregg Lewandusky, 23, of "I" Company, said it was gratifying to see how his company trained Iraqi police and military members to do missions on their own.
"They moved along in leaps and bounds," he said. "By the time we left, they could do missions on their own with very little assistance."
Lewandusky was greeted by his parents, who flew in from New York.
"You don't raise a son to go to war, but we're glad he's back," said his mother, Lynn Lewandusky.
Cpl. Dan Morton, 25, also from New York and a member of "I" Company, said the Marines were fearful, but "When you're around a group of guys you trust, you're all scared together."
Morton embraced his girlfriend Kristen Mailheau, whom he had dated for two months before leaving for Iraq.
"It's like coming home to the Garden of Eden," he said, comparing Hawaii to the barrenness of Iraq.
A memorial will be held Oct. 20 at Marine Corps Base Hawaii to honor the fallen Marines.