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Welcome home Company A, welcome home

At left: Deb Eckelberg waits to welcome her son home. View the slideshow HERE.

JANESVILLE -- Deb Eckelberg wanted to be one of the first to welcome home Company A Sunday evening.

So, the Janesville mother and her family set up their welcome-home committee at the feet of Bessie the Cow, the landmark statue near the exit ramp where the troops would turn onto Milton Avenue from Interstate 90.

Eckelberg was there to welcome home her son, Tyler, 20, who spent the past eight months in Iraq as part the Elkhorn- and Janesville-based Company A, 132nd Brigade Support Battalion.

It was to be Tyler's second welcome home, Deb Eckelberg said. She she saw her son for the first time Monday when his unit arrived at Volk Field in Tomah.

"It was the best experience of my life," she said about seeing her son after having him gone for so long.

The unit spent the past week de-mobilizing, before their trip home to Janesville.

Eckelberg's group was just one of hundreds that lined the street for the welcome-home parade.

Groups of people huddled together against the cold, damp evening air. They could be found at nearly every intersection along the route that went down Milton Avenue to Main Street, then on to the Armory.

As the crowds began to grow in advance of the troops' 4:30 p.m. arrival, organizer Lucy Anderson drove up and down the parade route updating people on the progress of the buses.

Sheryl and Al Ostram were among those waiting in the Big Lots parking lot. They were waiting for their son, Christopher Schenk.

Sheryl said she plans on indulging him when he finally gets home. "I heard the milk over there wasn't that good," she said. "So I want to make him some home-cooked meals and get him some milk."

Well wishers along the route carried hand-made signs and large posters. They waved flags of every size, and when the buses came into view, the crowds erupted into cheers.

The two coach buses that carried the soldiers were led by two squad cars and followed by a line of fire engines with red lights flashing.

Inside the buses, the soldiers stared out -- some with a smile and some with a look of disbelief at the number of people who had showed up to welcome them home.

When the motorcade finally arrived at the armory, anxious family members swarmed the soldiers. Much like a large family reunion, there was food, donated by local restaurants, hugs and handshakes.

Diane Mollet of Palmyra posed her son, Specialist Nick Mollet, with some of his buddies for a photo.

Nearby, Specialist Kenneth Gambel of Beloit tried to keep track of his three young sons, while he caught up with his wife, Elinor.

It didn't take long for Gambel to get reacquainted with the rigors of parenting either, after being gone from home for nearly a year.

His sons took turns hugging his legs, trying to lift his knapsack and vying for their Dad's attention. Gambel's youngest son, Liam, 2 wasn't walking yet when Gambel left for Iraq. Today, the soldier was having a hard time keeping up with the toddler.

As the evening wore on and the streets along the parade route returned to normal, soldiers drifted out of the armory with their families. They got into their cars and headed home to sleep in their own beds for the first time in a very long time.

Read more in Monday's Walworth County Gazette, online in the Gazette e-edition HERE, or check WalworthCountyToday.com after 4 p.m. Monday for the latest details.