Families welcome back long-serving guardsmen

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Fifteen-month-old Eric Palmer Jr. and sister Taylor, 7, climbed all over their dad yesterday throughout the entire welcome-home ceremony for his D.C. Army National Guard unit.

A year has passed since Sgt. Eric Palmer shipped out with the 273rd Military Police Company to the U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"It's the best feeling in the world to see your kids and your wife," he said yesterday as Eric Jr. wriggled about in his lap. "Especially since he wasn't even walking when I left."

Families around the country hope reunions like the one yesterday will continue to occur frequently because thousands of guardsmen and reservists have been serving long deployments since the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The ceremony at the D.C. Armory yesterday marked the end of two consecutive deployments for the nearly 100 members of the 273rd.

Several speakers and a military band and color guard honored the families and troops, whose 20 months on active duty involved security detail around the District until late last summer, then the assignment in Guantanamo.

For some, the deployment was even longer.

Sgt. Horace Stewart was with a small contingent of the 273rd that spent two years in the Middle East before being called back to the District for the security detail after September 11.

When that ended, it was off to Guantanamo.

Now that he's back, Sgt. Stewart, 45, plans to become a state trooper, perhaps in Maryland. However, he first would like to "relax and visit some family members."