Touring with the Crists: January 2012

Dear Interested Readers and Fans,

1LT Louis John Crist arrived home safely to Fort Knox on January 2nd, 2012 at 0130am! The brigade was coming home, we were told in December, but the dates were not set and we weren't even sure when he would leave country (country is code for "Afghanistan"). The standard procedure was that the main contact person each soldier designated during deployment would receive a 72 hour, 12 hour and 4 hour phone call from the automated E-Army messaging system. The 72 hour call was to let me know that the plane carrying Louis had left Manas, Kyrgyzstan, from there he would fly to Germany and the 12 hour call would come to announce that the plane was in the air from Germany to the United States. The plane landed in Bangor, Maine for a layover and then on to Louisville Airport, its final destination. When the information was disseminated to us families awaiting our soldiers, we were told that we would receive a 4 hour notification. This call would let us know that the soldiers had indeed landed in Louisville. From the airport they were taken by bus on an hour long drive to the fort, placed in a secure location and completed necessary paperwork and exams prior to being driven to meet their families. In the meantime, the families gathered at the large auditorium of the gymnasium on post with signs, flags and mounting excitement! The 3/1 Brigade flew back home in multiple flights which were days apart and called "Main Body" followed by a number. Lou was on "Main Body Flight 7", but that flight # was changed several times in the last week prior to the men leaving Afghanistan. The change in flights and numbers leads to mass confusion as wives and families cannot be certain their soldier is on an actual flight until they get the "72 hour notification". At that time, the wheels of the plane have left the ground and there is no opportunity for changes on the roster. All this leads to a LOT of nervous anticipation in the last weeks of deployment! Flight information, times and locations cannot be posted online or emailed because of the need for security. How devastating it would be to expect to welcome your soldier home and then instead receive a call that his plane had been targeted by terrorists. The frustrating part of this is that families and friends really have no idea when the guys are coming, how the process works, and they miss out on being able to participate unless they are local. I had several notifications of Flight #7 leaving on a specific date and then a subsequent notification would inform me that it had been postponed to a later date, only several hours later to be told that it was moved back up again! Lou's family decided to make the drive from New Jersey earlier in the week and they came in on Saturday, New Years Eve. We heard a rumor that Lou's Welcome Home ceremony would be held at midnight on New Years so we all played it safe on the Eve and had an early(ier) than midnight bedtime! The next morning on our way to church I got the 12 hour notification, but much to my dismay the Welcome Home Ceremony was announced to be at 9 am the following morning. I couldn't understand the discrepancy so I verified it with our point of contact and the message had been mis-recorded, it was after all to be sometime around midnight! Poor Mom was disappointed that there was not to be a night of rest after all, but instead we would be up and about waiting at the gym come midnight, however I don't think I would have slept a wink had they changed the times....Dad was teasing me about Mom hacking into the system to change the time just so we all could sleep that night! :) We spent the day counting down possible hours, decorating the house, and putting finishing touches on Welcome Home signs and banners.

Jess and Dad discovered Oceans' 12 for the first time and went from 12 to Ocean's 11, passing the time. Mom and I tried to nap a little, but I'm not sure I ever did. We finally received the "4 hour out" call which stated that the ceremony had been moved to 1 am. So, a little after 1130pm we bundled up and drove to the fort. Several of my dear friends were there to celebrate homecomings too, it was a night of such excitement and nerves!

As it turned out, one of the colonels and several other higher ranking officers were on Main Body #7 so the auditorium was packed, no seats to be had! We ended up standing on the left side of the building towards the front but I found a small hole in the bleachers and climbed up balancing precariously on my 4" heels. I'm thankful I decided to live dangerously that night and wear them as it made me tall enough to actually see what was going on amid the throng and Lou spotted me as well! :)

At this point we're all just standing and waiting, the soldiers come in behind a large screen and are supposed to be hidden from sight but the folks in the highest bleachers can see them file in and they start a cheer that fills the entire auditorium and sends shivers through you!

Mom is just minutes away from seeing her beloved son, alive and smiling!

Corrie took great care in cutting and decorating several different signs for the homecoming, Lou's platoon is the "Penguins", patterned after the Madagascar Penguins, a group of secret operatives who say things like,"Smile and Wave" or "Cute and Cuddly, Boys" to disarm the enemy! Lou loves the Penguins and quoted them incessantly when he became platoon leader. The movement caught on, eventually he created a penguin craze that prompted the platoon's name change and even their own personalized T-shirts!

The crowd was cheering and shouting as the boys filed in behind the curtain. Music playing...I think it was Toby Keith's Courtesy of the Red,White and Blue but its all a bit of a blur right now. Dad waited for a pause and then shouted,"Louie" with all his lung capacity.....later Lou said that he heard it loud and clear through the din!

And the anticipation was overwhelming, I think we just couldn't believe the day (night) had finally arrived!

The curtain began its slow agonizing rise....American Soldier playing.....

We're all hoping for a glimpse of him...but there are over 300 camouflaged soldiers in that group. Unless he's over 6'5", he's nicely um, "camouflaged".

I think I see him...although its so hard to tell. I see this familiar ear shape...and then his eyes....

Now we're all straining trying to pick him out of the crowd.

The music continues and the emotions are electric in that room

And I couldn't believe I was laying my eyes on him "3rd row from the left, 3rd back" in real life and that he was really home to stay....so I did what any sensible person would have done in that moment...

The whistling and shouting continued as the music played on.....

Then the soldiers must stand at attention as the Star Spangled Banner plays...

And we're all thinking,"Hurry up, hurry up!" Speeches that were incredibly and uncharacteristically short were made, then we were told to "Go Get Them!" I jumped off the bleacher without spraining my ankle in the process and fought through a milling crowd to the man I thought was my husband....and fortunately it was him, not a random soldier who happened to return my crazy jumping up and down, laughing and waving with a smile at attention. What a blessing to have him in my arms! What a night! What a reunion! Words cannot describe it all......