Local News
Governor Jon Corzine and Major General Glenn Rieth meet with family members and then welcome home about 300 members of the 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team from Iraq at McGuire Air Force Base in Wrightstown, N.J. on Monday, May 25, 2009.
The largest contingent of New Jersey's National Guard to be deployed since World War II received an emotional welcome home Monday.
Nearly 300 soldiers from across the state — including units based in West Orange, Essex County; Sea Girt, Monmouth County; and Woodstown, Salem County — landed at McGuire Air Force Base on Memorial Day and were brought to Fort Dix, arriving home even as crowds remembered fallen soldiers at Memorial Day celebrations across the country.
The soldiers belong to the 50th Brigade, which helped the Iraqi government take control of the section of Baghdad once known as the Green Zone, where Saddam Hussein kept one of his palaces.
Members of the brigade also served in Basra and Bucca, guarding insurgents, protecting convoys and helping to smooth Iraq's transition to a republic.
"Words can't express what I'm feeling right now," Sgt. Dan Monaghan, 25, said after reuniting with his wife Rachel and their 7-month-old daughter, Riley. "I just want to concentrate on being a dad and a husband right now."
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