Last two soldiers from 1161st come home

Gerami Arnston and Derek Peters greeted at Moses Lake airport with hugs and pride

As soon as Gerami Arnston and Derek Peters walked into Grant County International Airport, the crowd around them screamed and cheered.

The two recent Moses Lake High School graduates stopped at the door, a little surprised at the 30 friends and family gathered to see them come home from the war in Iraq. Then Peters found his mother in the crowd and gave her a strong embrace. Arnston followed suit with his mother.

"It's great. Holy cow," Arnston said later when asked about his reaction to his reception.

The last members of the 1161st Transportation Company, based out of Ephrata, were home.

Arnston and Peters were two of the 17 members of the rear detachment of the unit, which meant they were tasked to stay behind in Kuwait to take care of the remaining equipment after the majority of the company headed home. The two left Kuwait Aug. 6 and flew into Moses Lake from Sea-Tac International Airport Thursday afternoon.

The 1161st was deployed in February 2003. While the unit was scheduled to stay in Middle East for 12 months, the deployment was extended in March for an additional 120 days.

The Washington National Guard has not had a deployment of that length for an entire unit since World War II.

No soldiers from the 1161st were killed, and three suffered injuries during the war.

The majority of the soldiers from the 1161st arrived at Ft. Lewis in Tacoma on Aug. 3 and met with family members. Soldiers have gradually trickled back to their homes since then, and Peters and Arnston's return makes it complete.

"When he left, he left a big hole," Shane Peters, Derek's father, said minutes before his son's plane landed, adding that he was "just plain, shirt-busting proud" of his son.

"It just doesn't seem real," Jean Peters, Derek's mother, added. "You just wait for the day, and wait for the day, and finally it's here."

Among those waiting for the two soldiers was fellow specialist Raymond Grove, who was also a member of the rear detachment but returned home earlier because of a family emergency.

Grove, who had been in Baghdad for eight months with the company, had a lot of reasons why he was glad to be home.

"You don't have to worry about getting shot at, and (getting hit by) mortars, and being able to sleep in a bit," he said.

Grove's mother, Heidi, said her son's return home was a relief.

"It's like I can breathe again," she said. "I've been holding my breath for eight months."

In fact, both Heidi Grove and Jean Peters said they still go to sleep with a phone right next to them, just in case their sons call.

The hardest part about the deployment for Bob Arnston, he said, was not knowing how his son was all the time.

"When you heard the news about another soldier killed, you never knew," he said.

But he also believes that this time in Iraq has changed his son, and for the better.

"I strongly believe we had a boy leave and a man came back," Bob Arnston said.

Lynnette Arnston said she had thought about joining the military when she younger, and she felt a lot of pride when her son did.

"I think it's really good for him to be traveling across the world," she said.

But the celebration for now is on the soldiers returning home. Derek Peters said the hardest part about being away was missing his friends and family, but the reception he received upon coming home was "wonderful."

Peters said he plans to go to college now that he's back home, and he's already learned a lot from his experience in the Middle East.

"We're very well off here. It's hard to explain," Peters said. "I'm very thankful I live here in the United States. I want to thank God for everything."

Peters said he felt the soldiers were treated "fairly" by the Iraqi people, with about 70 percent welcoming their presence and the remainder staring them down.

For now, the families are focused on celebrating their sons' return. A community celebration for the entire unit is next on the horizon, though plans have not yet been finalized.

The Arnstons are headed to the China Buffet, and they planned to take their son out to the Sand Dunes later that night. The Peters went for lunch at the Golden Corral, and they'll have a big family party later.

"I'm glad he's home," Shane Peters said.