CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) - After more than a year of serving his country in Afghanistan, Cpl. Kevin Brower couldn’t wait a second longer to propose to his girlfriend, Aubrie Irons.
Brower, of Salem, got down on one knee in front of 50 other soldiers with the Corvallis-based Bravo Company on Wednesday morning at the Oregon National Guard Armory in Corvallis.
Some 400 members of the Oregon Army National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, including Bravo Company, shipped out in June 2014 for a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan with the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. The troops provided security for military installations in Kabul and southwestern Afghanistan.
While most of the soldiers left for Afghanistan last June, some left several months prior. The troops were originally scheduled to come home in December, but the operation was delayed.
More than 100 family members, friends and loved ones went to the Armory on Wednesday to celebrate the soldiers’ safe return.
Brower and Irons could not stop smiling after she said “yes.”
“I was going to wait until next weekend, but she’s waited long enough for me,” Brower said. “She’s gorgeous, she’s sweet and there’s no one else I’d rather spend the rest of my life with.”
Irons said she had a feeling the proposal was coming, but that didn’t help her hold back the tears.
“I kind of had a feeling, but I’m still surprised,” she said, laughing and crying. “I knew he wasn’t going to be able to wait. I didn’t actually think he would go through with it.”
Brower smiled and shook his head.
“I couldn’t wait,” he said before the two embraced and kissed again.
Many soldiers returning home Wednesday said they couldn’t wait to reunite with their families and find out about everything they had missed in the nine months they were away.
For Sgt. 1st Class Jon Bricker, that meant getting to see his new house in Colton for the first time. He helped to select the house before being deployed in May, and wife Teresa had spent the past nine months moving the pair’s things from Salem.
“I need him home bad,” Teresa Bricker said. “He immediately got deployed after we picked it, but it’s the first time there are things inside; it’s a home.”
More than just a homecoming, the Wednesday reunion was Jon and Teresa’s third in 12 years - and the last.
“We’re done. That’s what I’m most looking forward to - no more deployments,” Teresa said. “We’re going to go back and show him his new home, and then we’re going to go to the beach for a few days to celebrate.”
Specialist Jared Sabin, of Portland, reunited with his mother Anh Sabin on Wednesday. Anh said she was relieved that she wouldn’t have to worry about her son being overseas and could spend time with him again. Jared Sabin said he was excited to see his family, but there was one other thing on his mind.
“I’m going to go eat a steak. I haven’t had one since we left,” he said, laughing. And the longest he had previously gone without a steak before the deployment? “Maybe a week. It’s been a long time.”
“A very long time,” Anh said, wiping away tears and hugging her son again. “We’re all just so happy he’s home.”
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Information from: Gazette-Times, https://www.gtconnect.com
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