Mission completed

Published 9:11 pm Friday, December 23, 2011

A member of the 1165th military police batalion is greeted by family as he returns home from a yearlong tour in Afghanistan Friday morning in Fairhope. All 170 members of the unit returned home safely. Blake Bell | The Atmore Advance

As soldiers with the National Guard battalion 1165 took their seats for a welcome home celebration Friday morning in Fairhope, the announcement was made from the stage – “mission completed, all personnel are accounted for.”

The 1165 military police unit was officially off duty after a yearlong deployment to one of Afghanistan’s most treacherous areas near Kabul. In total, 170 citizen soldiers making up the battalion shipped out almost exactly one year ago, on Jan. 2, 2010, and Friday all 170 returned home to booming applauses, warm hugs and tears of joy.

As three buses full of soldiers slowly emptied along side the Fairhope Civic Center a chant quickly emerged from the crowd: “USA, USA, USA.”

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Fairhope Mayor Tim Kant said as wonderful a reception as the troops had, the event might not have happened at all if not for the kindness of a local couple.

Despite being stateside once again, members of the 1165 were almost unable to make it to Fairhope in time for Friday’s planned reception because of budgeting issues. Due to holiday staffing shortages the battalion cannot be processed out of active duty for another week leaving the National Guard without sufficient funding to transport the unit to Fairhope Friday and back to Camp Shelby for final processing.

That is when Louis Mapp and his wife, Melinda, stepped in, paying the entire $5,000 needed to bring the troops home Friday.

Kant publicly thanked the Mapps for their generous donation Friday and said the money could not have gone to a better cause. Kant also praised the battalion for their excellent performance over the last year overseas.

“They were recognized over there and they should be recognized over here,” he said over the applause.

Two members of the 1165 will likely spend some of their newly acquired down time in Atmore following their final processing. Soldiers John Wardrop, an Atmore native, and Bronze Star winner Heath Harrison, who has family ties to Atmore, were both a part of the deployed battalion.

Wardrop, Harrison and company are getting a much-deserved break as they arrive back home according to Brigadier General David R. Brown.

“They have done an extraordinary job,” Brown said. “They were very instrumental in some key ways in Afghanistan. They’ve gotten great praise for what they did.”

First Sergeant Charles Johnson echoed the admiration and praise the battalion has earned.

“To the soldiers of the 1165 thank you for your service and may God bless you,” he said just prior to the service’s close.

As the soldiers were dismissed the order of the service gave way to the chaos of children, spouses, family and friends clamoring for the arms of their man or woman in uniform and for many, the chance to enjoy an upcoming holiday without someone very vital missing from the festivities.