45th soldiers home for the holidays, then off to war

McAlester News-Capital, McAlester, OK - 45th soldiers home for the holidays, then off to war: "45th soldiers home for the holidays, then off to war
By Susan Brittingham
Features Editor

Sunday morning, joyful people stood outside the Expo, proudly waving American flags and cheering as the bright purple buses pulled up like gaily wrapped presents.

And what presents they were! Inside each one were dozens of troops from the 45th Infantry Brigade, who got to come home through the “Soldiers Home for the Holidays, Oklahoma” effort.Nobody cared that the wind chill was only 21 degrees, because the only thing that mattered was the fact that the troops were home and it’s going to be a good Christmas.They’ll be home until 7 a.m. Jan. 2, when the public is once again invited to the Southeast Expo Center to give them a big send-off as they head to Iraq."