859th home from year deployment

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - It was celebration Thursday (May 21), when soldiers from the Mississippi Army National Guard’s 859th Vertical Engineer Company arrived back home to Pascagoula. Community members lined the streets to wave at the buses filled with soldiers, family members waited outside the fence line of the Guard’s Armory. It was an emotional moment as they anxiously awaited. Butterflies swirled in the stomach of military spouse Amanda Whatley as she waited with her children for her husband to arrive. “Just a ball of nerves. I’ve been with him for 14 years and it feels like I’m just meeting him for the first time almost," said Whatley. Well-wishers held signs. Many cheered loudly, including Brenda Kelley, who was there to welcome home her son. For the soldiers who are finally back home after being deployed, it was the little things they looked forward to most once home. “The creek, my dog, food for sure." said soldier Gabriel Kelley. "Good home cooked food. I could go on forever about that.” The group of carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and mechanics have been gone for nearly a year, training and serving in the Middle East, where they were tasked with completing construction projects that benefit U.S. soldiers serving as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. (Source: WLOX 05/21/20) https://www.wlbt.com/2020/05/22/families-welcome-home-soldiers-mississippi-army-national-guard/