MY SON IS STATESIDE AGAIN, at least till his next deployment! After an endless night last night, I finally got a call from Dee (the mother of one of Eric's buddies in his platoon) who told me that the buses had pulled into 29 Palms and she was looking for Nate (her son) and Eric. It didn't take her long to find them !! Then she gave the phone to Eric so he could talk to me. That voice never sounded as good as it did this morning to me!! He said they had a blast on the flight home so even though it was long they enjoyed it. I told him four things before I let him go. First, of course, I love him a LOT and I was so glad they were home. Second ... that he needed to buy his airplane ticket home ASAP (he gets to come home in two weeks, for three weeks!) so it didn't cost him an arm and a leg. Third .. that he needed to take half his money in his bank account (which is a lot) and put it in a savings account BECAUSE he would spend whatever was in his checking account. Fourth ... not to ride with any drunk Marines!! It was bittersweet because I so wanted to be there to hug him, but like he said, he will get to see me in two weeks and we can have our own mini-homecoming! I want to thank Dee (and Nate) for making sure that I got to talk to him when he got off that bus. And thank you Dee for hugging my son for me. I love you both!

It was funny because just when his plane landed at 2:11 am (I was tracking its progress with www.FlightAware.com before I went to bed to try to get some sleep) I woke up. Of course the first thing I did was wonder where his plane was in relation to March AFB. So I went and checked and it said it had just landed!! I guess a mother sometimes just knows.

So, after that long endless night, I logged onto the Dandelion Sisters messageboard (the group of 3/7 parents that I belong to .. and get most of my info from) to post to the board that Lima Co and the #4 flight were at 29 Palms safely.

Now .. the messages that I saw there were upsetting to say the very least. One of the other moms (her son is in Weapons Co) who could not go to homecoming either (her son had asked her not to, and she respected his wishes on that) had been tracking the flights of the 3/7 home with me earlier in the day. Her son had come in on the #3 flight and had gotten to 29 Palms about 4pm or so yesterday. She was the one that told us about FlightAware. Unfortunately she had a sick little girl (105 temp) that they had to take to the ER so I hadn't heard from her for a while before I went to try and get some sleep. So the first thing I did was check the messages from her and see if her little girl was okay. She got a call early this morning from California. Her son, Ben (3/7 Weapons) was hit by a car last night on Highway 54 and he is in critical condition in the hospital. She is, with the help of some other Marine parents, on her way to Palm Springs to be with Ben. Other Marine mothers that are out there are going to the hospital to stay with Ben until his mother gets there. If there is one thing the Marine family does, it is support and help each other.

Even though they have made it home safe from Iraq, you are never really safe. We all need to keep that in mind and make sure that we live every day as if it could be your last one. Say the things you need to say to the people that mean the most to you. Don't ever take life for granted. Because each and every one of us could be in those shoes.

Please say a prayer for Ben and his family. His condition will be touch and go for quite a while and he will have a long road to recovery because his injuries are severe. Through my joy at having the 3/7 back at 29 Palms and my son safe for now, I feel the horrible pain of Ben's mother as she flies out to be by his side at the hospital. My prayers are with them and all of our guys with the 3/7 .

Welcome home 3/7 .. please be safe and be aware. We don't want any more of you getting hurt.

Semper Fi and God Bless you all.

UPDATE ON BEN: Last I heard from his mom, he has a skull fracture (which they were concerned about most), shattered pelvis, broken arm and leg, and collapsed lung .. but .. the doctor called her and they don't think he has any brain damage (thank you Lord). He is responsive to pain and moving. I am keeping him and his family in my prayers. Thank you to everyone else that has said a prayer for this young man too. They are working.