TULLAHOMA — Karen Williams got the best Mother’s Day present she could have ever hoped for today — the safe return of her 21-year-old son after a yearlong tour in the Middle East.

Mrs. Williams, of Chickamauga, Ga., assembled a welcome party for Gary Williams Jr. at the Tullahoma Armory, where his 283-member Tennessee National Guard unit is based. The 1175th Transportation Company had flown into Fort Bragg, N.C., last week for processing, then to Smyrna this morning before arriving in Tullahoma by bus around noon.

“It’s been hard,” she said, cradling her son’s 9-month-old niece Emmie, who wore a T-shirt with “Welcome Home Uncle” embroidered on it. “When he was on base, I got to talk to him about every other day. But when he was out on a mission, it would be a week or 10 days. Those days are long, not knowing if he’s okay.”

The Williams family was among about ten Chattanooga-area groups waiting for their loved ones. They joined a crowd hundreds deep waving posters and cheering to welcome the busloads of soldiers, who were escorted in a motorcade by local law enforcement and about 50 motorcyclists with the Patriot Guard Riders.

The unit had been moving heavy equipment back and forth from Kuwait to various locations in Iraq since last summer, and all of its members returned safely, according to the commander, Capt. Hud Moore.

It was the company’s second deployment in three years.

“We were hit 15 times, and three of our trucks were totally lost,” Capt. Moore said. “But there was not a scratch on anyone.”

For full coverage, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.

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