A warm welcome: Leesburg guardsmen make it home safely
By Holly Hobbs
Lots of hugs and few dry eyes greeted Leesburg's National Army guardsmen, who returned home April 25 after about eight months in Iraq, 11 months away from home.A crowd of more than 500 waited in the Virginia National Army Guard Armory parking lot in Leesburg as three buses full of soldiers pulled up and unloaded about 150 soldiers.
The guardsmen had arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport earlier in the afternoon and were escorted by police to the Armory on Sycolin Road.
Among those waiting was Capt. Giancarlo Brizzi's family -- wife Lynn Brizzi, 4-year-old son Will, 2-year-old daughter Anna, and the soldier's mother and father.
With her two children clinging and climbing on her, Lynn Brizzi was on the lookout for her returning husband.
“It's been interesting dealing with two kids by yourself,” said Lynn, who has survived having her husband deployed overseas twice. “He's missed half of her life,” she said, referring to daughter Anna.
Capt. Brizzi, 34, of Ashburn, has missed a lot of important family moments while serving in Iraq, like many of the soldiers from Leesburg's C Company who returned Friday.
The Leesburg guardsmen left for Iraq in late August after training in Mississippi.
Capt. Brizzi has missed three out of five of the couple's anniversaries due to deployments, said Lynn, and this year he missed Thanksgiving, Christmas and children's birthdays.
“It comes along with the job,” Lynn said. Capt. Brizzi spent a year in Afghanistan in 2004-2005 with the National Guard.
“His hobby is taking up a lot more time then normal,” she said jokingly.
Capt. Brizzi, who normally works for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, was the commanding officer of many of the returning soldiers.
“We had one soldier who received shrapnel wounds in his arm and leg” after a improvised explosive devise detonated, he said. Leesburg's C Company had nine out of the 10 injuries incurred by the National Army Guard's 3rd Battalion of the 116th Infantry Unit 3rd Battalion -- about 750 soldiers.
Fortunately, he said, the injuries were mended and all of wounded soldiers returned to duty.
While addressing the men and women before dismissing them from active duty, Brizzi said, “As I am joining my family, I'm leaving a family ... We had each other to lean on, but those that we left behind this past year didn't. And a lot of the things they had to do, they had to do by themselves.”
He told the guardsmen that they would be thanked many times for their service -- as they should be -- but they should take a minute to thank their families for holding down the fort while they were away.
Lynn Brizzi said she was looking forward to a quiet night with the whole family and watching her husband and children interact with each other.
Capt. Brizzi said his mission now is to spend time with his children and get back to life as usual.
The family plans to spend a week at Hilton Head beach to reconnect. Capt. Brizzi has built up 60 days of leave with the National Guard and will likely return back to work in July.
Also speaking at the April 25 homecoming event was Col. William R. Phillips II, commander of the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
“In the next few months, as you and your family reintegrate ... you might experience some personal issues,” he said, addressing the returning soldiers. “You might have some work conflicts. You might have trouble focusing. You might have some physical or mental issues.
“Make sure we know about it so we can help you. If you do not share that with us, we cannot help you.”
Contact the reporter at hhobbs@timespapers.com