Families Celebrate Marines' Homecoming From Iraq
SAN DIEGO -- Four Camp Pendleton Marines arrived from a deployment in Iraq ahead of their unit Thursday.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/14372702/detail.html
Troy Hirsch, NBC 7/39 Reporter
POSTED: 3:31 pm PDT October 18, 2007
NBC 7/39 was the only news crew on hand when they touched down at Lindbergh Field and saw the happy reunion between Sgt. Joshua Robin, his wife Lisa and their 7-month-old daughter, Zoe.
"Very excited," Lisa Robin said. "Very excited to have some help and have my husband home."
The Marines arrived ahead of their unit for special circumstances.
In Robin's case, he's back just in time to say goodbye to his brother, Chris, an Army Tank Gunner stationed in Texas.
"My little brother is getting deployed in a few weeks," Robin said. "So they sent me back early so I could go meet up with him before he leaves."
Sgt. Carlos Martinez was also able to come home early due to a death in the family. He was met by his fianceé', Sgt. Tina Dominguez. The two had not seen each other since the day he proposed in Kuwait last month.
"It was coming up on my re-enlistment and we were at two different camps in Iraq," Martinez explained.
"On our re-enlistment ceremony, you get a special request sometimes. I asked my commanding officer if he would fly me to her camp so I could propose and at the same, re-enlist in the Marine Corps for four more years. He granted me that wish."
A small gathering of family and friends met the four Marines who flew back from Australia ahead of their unit, the 13th MEU. The rest of the unit is expected to return to San Diego on Nov. 17.