Fort Rucker soldiers return after deployment to Iraq

FORT RUCKER - Marla Fish’s future began somewhere between Iraq and Orange Beach, Calif., with a chain of letters to a deployed soldier. On Sunday, Fish’s “fate” continued during a stop in Fort Rucker to pick up the man of her dreams.
Fish was among more than 18 families who welcomed soldiers from the 164th Theater Airfield Operations Group back to Fort Rucker on Sunday.  Fish said she and her husband, returning CW4 Martin Fish, married in February after several letters through a soldier support program called Soldiers’ Angels.
“I’d been divorced 10 years, raising my kids, not getting married again. I watched a show and I committed to Soldiers’ Angels, which for six months only required you write one letter a week to a soldier and send one or two care packages a month. I wrote five before (Martin Fish) answered,“ Marla Fish said before rushing toward the bus to glimpse her husband.
“I feel like it was just fate. We just became friends.“
The 164th went to Iraq a little more than a year ago as the Army’s first TAOG to deploy in Operation Iraqi Freedom. James Jones, director of operations, said the unit was responsible for standardizing and overseeing air traffic control and air space management.
Col. Jerry Egbert, who deployed with the unit, spoke to the soldiers before they went to their families.
Some family members, like Marla Fish, had traveled for miles to attend the welcome home ceremony.
Families who lived nearby, like that of Staff Sgt. Rick Hemion, said they spent all day preparing for when the troops came home.
“This has been the longest day. I woke up at 5:30 (a.m.) because I just couldn’t sleep,“ said Jennifer Hemion as she waited with her children, Ashleigh and Rick “JJ.“
Dee Hughes, who waited for her friend’s husband to unload from the bus, smiled as the soldiers pulled in. Hughes said she knew personally how the wait affected her friend.
“I have a brother-in-law over (in Iraq) now and we wait everyday. He left a day after his one-year-old was born. My sister’s in Seattle away from family so I know it’s been hard,“ Hughes said.
“You just have to continue to show support.“