Marines come home from Nawa

Mark Walker:

She applied a fresh coat of hot pink polish to her toenails and tugged at her short black skirt. She ran her fingers through her hair and adjusted her sunglasses, making sure everything looked just right.

Finally, two long hours of nervous anticipation ended Thursday for VonMarie Hernandez when her fiance emerged from a Camp Pendleton armory, home from the war in Afghanistan.

"He's my Marine and my hero," the 20-year-old New Jersey resident said shortly before leaping into the arms of Cpl. Scott Florio. "I've waited seven long months for this."

An infantry sniper, Florio was among more than 550 Marines and sailors from Camp Pendleton's 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment who returned home after what commanders say was a flawless performance in the Nawa district of Afghanistan's Helmand province.

Florio was also greeted by his parents, who with Hernandez flew from the East Coast to California earlier this week. He said he brings a newfound sense of pride back from the war.

"It was something else," he said. "It was bad, but at the same time it was good. I think we were able to help the people there."

The unit arrived in Afghanistan in late May. Within days, its troops were flown by helicopter into the Nawa district, where they chased out anti-government Taliban fighters and worked closely with the local population.

As they prepared to come home earlier this month, Sgt. Carsten Bossow, 25, said residents of the largely agricultural region had a message for the departing troops.

"The people were all lined up along a canal asking us not to leave," the veteran of two combat deployments said.

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There is more.

This sounds like a successful counterinsurgency operation when the people ask you not to leave. However they are still in good hands as another Marine unit is taking their place. In the next rotation this same unit will return to the same area.

The story has more heart warming family reunions for the Marines.