LEXINGTON — About 40 members of the Lexington-based 2nd Battalion 149th Aviation Unit had an emotional homecoming Sunday when hundreds of friends and neighbors lined the roadway to welcome the troops after more than eight months in Iraq.
While the Guardsmen were happy to be home in the arms of their families, it was an emotional and bittersweet reunion because of three empty chairs where helicopter helmets were placed in memory of three who didn’t come back. Army Sgt. Dan Eshbaugh, 43, of Norman; Cpl. Michael Thompson, 23, of Kingston and Warrant Officer Brady Rudolf, 37, all died in a helicopter crash on Sept. 18. “All three of them were mine. So this is pretty hard,” 1st Sgt Kevin McAnally of Purcell said. Warrant Officer Michael McGill said the sea of friendly faces welcoming the troops home on Memorial Day weekend was more than he could put into words, but he said he wished his three buddies could have been there to see it. “It’s definitely tough not being able to bring everyone home,” he said. “But they were with us the whole time.” Shortly after the 149th were joined their friends and family, an additional 80 members of the 834th Aviation Intermediate Maintenance Company arrived at their home station in Tulsa. And while most of the troops did not have any immediate celebration plans, they were all looking forward to catching up and spending some quality time with their loved ones.
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