JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
After coming home from Afghanistan last night, Sgt. Luis Maceira looked at the gap where his son Joseph, 5, lost a tooth. Maceira is surrounded by his children, clockwise from left, Erika, 7, Kisha, 11, and Mera, 9. About 200 Marines and sailors from the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, returned home after about five months in Afghanistan.
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Marines conclude 5-month mission
Families of the Kaneohe-based battalion welcome back loved ones
About 200 people greeted 200 Kaneohe Marines and sailors of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, who returned home last night from nearly five months in Afghanistan.
Just before leaving, the Marines participated in Operation Mountain Lion with Afghan National Army troops.
On its previous deployment, the unit suffered the greatest loss of Marines since the 1983 Beirut bombing, when a helicopter crash in January 2005 in western Iraq killed 26 Kaneohe Marines.
Capt. Bart Battista of B Company yesterday said they spent 23 days in the mountains rooting out al-Qaida strongholds.
"Morale was high," he said.
He said the Marines and Afghan National Army battalions were responsible for the entire province of Nangarhar.
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
After a long flight, about 200 Marines from the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, returned home last night from Afghanistan at Kaneohe's Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
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Taliban insurgents killed several children during a rocket attacks on a girls schools built by coalition forces.
One of his own men died in a vehicle accident.
"It's a very hard loss for the guys we know," said Staff Sgt. Sourinha Phakousonh, who was stationed at Forward Operating Base Asalabad. "No matter what, it always hits home."
Last night, thoughts were with loved ones here, who had waited so long to be reunited.
Tears streamed down Ana Phakousonh's face as her husband, with rifle in one hand and bags in the other, kissed her and then their 11-month-old son.
"Oh my God, he's really different. Very handsome," said Staff Sgt. Phakousonh.
Kasandra Wright waited with 1-month-old son DaQuan in one arm and 3-year-old daughter ZaQualyn Henderson tugging the other.
"It's the first time he's seeing him," she said.
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Sgt. Darwaun Wright met his 1-month-old son, DaQuan, for the first time as he was greeted by wife Kasandra and daughter ZaQualyn Henderson, 3.
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"He's been gone too long," she said of her husband's first deployment. "He felt like he missed out a lot."
"What you gonna tell your daddy?" she asked her daughter. "Love him," ZaQualyn said.
Nuuanu native Michelle McGinn, with leis on her arm for her husband, Staff Sgt. George McGinn, broke out in cheers and shouts and clapped as his plane landed.
She and her neighbors and relatives had painted a 90-by-80-inch welcome-home sign of the Devil Dog, the Marine Corps mascot that hung in the hangar.
This was the first time she saw his plane land, though it was his third homecoming from the Middle East. He had been deployed in Iraq twice before.
