Battalion from area returns to love, pride

A soldier’s saddest time in Iraq was when a friend was killed by an explosion.

By TIM YOVICH

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — “Welcome home, warriors!”

That was the greeting 23 members of the 1st Battalion, 107th Field Artillery received during a standing ovation as they returned to their headquarters here after a yearlong tour in Iraq.

“We are very proud of you,” Lt. Col. Grey Berrier II, battalion commander, told his soldiers Friday after they arrived from Fort Dix, N.J., to the Pennsylvania Army National Guard Armory.

Actually, the 23 were away from home for about 16 months because they received training before their tour began.

Since February 2004, when the battalion first deployed, five members have been killed and 19 wounded in Iraq.

Berrier told the returnees’ families and friends, “You have sacrificed a lot. Now, I’m asking you to take care of them.”

One of the returning soldiers, Spec. Troy Lallemand of Utica, Pa., said his most difficult time in Iraq was the Oct. 18, 2006, death of his friend, Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Brozovich of Greenville.

Brozovich was killed and two other soldiers wounded in an explosion. The other two had limbs amputated.

“We lost three good men,” Lallemand said sadly.

While in Ashraf, just north of Baghdad, the soldiers provided security for convoys and guarded detainees.

Christine Barr of Ellwood City couldn’t wait for her husband, Sgt. 1st Class Harold Barr, to return home. She visited him four days ago at Fort Dix.

“It’s been too long,” Mrs. Barr said of her husband’s absence. “I just want a normal, everyday life with no worries,” she added.

The Barrs have a 5-year-old son, Brandon, and a 16-year-old daughter, Britany.

Back to recruiting

“The best part is seeking all these guys and their families. That’s what it’s all about,” Barr said. He will return to his job as a National Guard recruiter.

After resting for 90 days, Barr also returned to his civilian job with the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare.

Staff Sgt. Robert Gromley of Greenville has been in the guard for 18 years and re-enlisted for six more years while in Iraq.

As a civilian, Gromley was self-employed, moving things like houses.

“I don’t know if I want to do that. Too many days away from home,” Gromley said.

As for Gromley’s wife, Bobbie Gromley, she supports her husband’s re-enlistment.

“I back him 1,000 percent. We were raised in God, family and country,” she said, noting that both their parents served in World War II.

This was the second deployment for Gromley in Iraq. For Mrs. Gromley, the time didn’t go quickly during either tour.

“I missed talking with him. Some days I got lonely and wished he was here,” she said, adding that they were able to share e-mails and see each other on a Web cam.

Others simply went to the armory to express their support.

Two of them were Gerald and Elaine Lombardo, of New Castle. He served in the battalion for 26 years, retiring in 2001. They have two sons leaving for Iraq and Afghanistan this month.

Michael Lombardo is a first lieutenant in the famed 101th Airborne Division, the unit his father served in Vietnam. He leaves for Iraq on Sept. 24.

His brother, Robert, an Air Force airman and civil engineer, leaves in two days for Afghanistan.

“They both want to go. That makes me feel better,” Mrs. Lombardo said.

After the solders arrived at the armory, an older graying man shuffled his way toward his car with tears running down his reddened face.

“I lost my grandson over there. They wouldn’t let them fight,” the man lamented as he continued his walk alone.

yovich@vindy.com