CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Cpl. Curtis Wiseman, a warehouse clerk with Combat Logistics Company 252, Combat Logistics Regiment 25, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, stood in the back of an alphabetically-organized line waiting to have his blood drawn just hours after returning from an Afghanistan deployment, March 9.
Although he would be the last one to complete the required medical visit, Wiseman said he would be the first one off the bus to see his wife and 10-month-old daughter. Wiseman said he was eager to see how much his daughter had grown after not seeing her for nearly seven months.
Marines from CLR 2, 2nd MLG, who spent 11 months deployed, and CLC-252 returned from Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan.
During their deployment, the Marines provided logistical support across Helmand Province, Afghanistan by conducting resupply missions and transferring gear, supplies and troops via convoys.
The Marines also assisted in securing the southernmost point of operations in Afghanistan, particularly, Combat Outpost Payne.
“These guys were always on the go,” said Gunnery Sgt. Eric D. Smith, the communications operations chief with Headquarters & Service Company, CLR-2. “Logistics is hard. It’s all about moving the beans, bullets and Band-Aids and getting supplies where they need to go.”
With their boots now on American soil, these Marines had a new mission: to reunite with their loved ones.
Lance Cpl. Kathryn Wiseman, the wife of Cpl. Curtis Wiseman, stood holding their daughter, anxiously waiting to see her husband.
“I’ve been trying to teach her to say da-da,” she said. “But she only says it randomly when she wants to, never when mommy asks her to.”
When the families were informed that the Marines would be arriving soon, they all crowded to the entrance of the maintenance bay where the Marines would be pulling in.
Some families had handmade signs, others carried red, white and blue balloons with the words ‘Welcome Home’ printed on them, and some wore custom made t-shirts.
The buses arrived and all of the families cheered and waved at the passing heroes, trying to decipher through the tinted widows which bus their Marine was on.
The Wiseman's daughter stretched out her arm towards the passing buses and brought tears to her mother’s eyes.
“Da-Da,” she said.