Loved ones greet guardsmen returned from Afghanistan

AUGUSTA – Isiah Grace, 7, and his brother Josiah, 8, wiggled through hundreds of people gathered Friday morning in the Augusta Armory.

The boys’ destination: the front row.

Their goal: Find Sgt. Dad.

Dad is Sgt. Nathaniel Grace, who has just completed a year clearing mines, building roads and renovating schools in Afghanistan while deployed with the Maine Army National Guard’s 240th Engineer Group.

Grace and 81 fellow guardsmen arrived home Friday to a crowd of anxious family members and friends.

The two Grace boys dodged purses flung over the arms of wives and mothers and ducked under colorful signs inscribed with greetings of love and pride, all so they could have bragging rights about being the first in their family to spot their dad.

At first, the boys couldn’t see Grace onstage during a brief ceremony. Then, when the guardsmen were dismissed, Sgt. Dad was nowhere in sight.

Finally, after minutes of searching among the crowd, the two boys from Orono ran simultaneously into the arms of their father. Their mom, Beth, 35, and sister, Sherraiah, 11, were quick to follow.

“I’m kind of overwhelmed right now,” Sgt. Grace said. “But the best part of the next few weeks is that we’ll be able to be together and just do the things a family does.”

Grace’s mother-in-law was on hand, too. Lois Wilbur stood back and tearfully watched as her daughter’s family reunited.

But the family’s drive to Augusta was bittersweet for her. Just two weeks ago, she said goodbye to her son, Mark, as he deployed to Iraq for 18 months.

“I’m so glad my son-in-law is home safe. But I’m worrying about Mark,” Wilbur said, her eyes welling behind the lenses of her glasses.

The unit lost one member during the deployment. Capt. Pat Damon, 41, of Falmouth died of an apparent heart attack on June 15, 2006.

When Sgt. Grace gets home to Orono, he said, he hopes to go fishing with his sons and attend his daughter’s Bible quiz competition in Caribou.

Sammy Marcelle, 12, of Oakland wants nothing to do with fishing.

Sammy’s mother, Chief Warrant Officer Kathy Marcelle, returned home Friday, aware she had left her daughter outnumbered at home with her husband and son.

So when Mom returned home Friday, Sammy envisioned a one-way ticket to the shopping mall. For Dad bargain hunting and designer fashion are just tasks.

Asked what she would buy if Mom took her out for a mother-daughter shopping spree, she replied, “I want shoes.” A smile emerged on the girl’s tear-stained face.

Aside from shopping, Sammy said she also looks forward to Mom’s cooking, because she is good at it -better than Dad, at least.

“It’s great to have her back,” Mike Marcelle said about his wife. “The hardest part was originally getting in the routine of cooking dinner and running after the kids for after-school activities and doing it all alone.”

While Mike welcomes help with daily chores, he is most excited for Sammy to have a woman back in the house.

“I could deal with my son. I can relate to boys,” Mike said. “But she [Sammy] was a little more sensitive. I had to figure out the difference between what she said and what she meant.

“And now I won’t have to deal with the stress of helping her figure out what to wear in the morning,” he joked.