Marine reserves arrive home from Iraq on 9/11 anniversary

YAKIMA -- Susan Goettlicher had been waiting since 6 a.m. for her son's Marine Corps company to arrive at the Yakima Training Center -- the same place from which the unit deployed to Iraq.

The Yakima-based reserve company had first been expected to arrive within an hour or so. In typical military fashion, that schedule was pushed back, though.

When word finally came that the buses carrying the 100 members of 4th Tank Battalion's Bravo Company were about to arrive at 11:30 a.m., Goettlicher stood at the side of the road waiting.

The Renton, Wash. resident didn't mind the delay -- she was about to see her son -- 21-year-old Lance Cpl. Jacob Goettlicher for the first time since April. With her were Jacob's grandmother, Mary Brain of Ellensburg, and his girlfriend, Kate McConkey of Wapato.

"To see his face walking across the parking lot was a godsend," Susan Goettlicher said. "My heart was pumping."

McConkey doesn't have any big plans for their time together now that they're in the same country again, just relaxing and watching movies.

Jacob Goettlicher said he's hoping to get some time to himself, before finishing out this service period and looking for another unit headed for deployment.

Not exactly what his mother was hoping for.

"He hasn't told me that. I don't want to hear that," she said.

Goettlicher's loved ones were among more than 100 friends and relatives of Bravo Company who gathered in the shade near the training center's dining hall before the buses showed up.

The Marines arrived back on Sept. 11, the same date eight years before when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The deadly attacks launched the United States' military offensive that would eventually see the tank company serve two deployments in Iraq. The first was in 2005.

Some of the returning Marines said this turn was easier than the first, in part because Iraqi security forces have largely taken over in Al Anbar province, where they served since April.

Maj. Pat Hughes, the company commander, said the unit faced only three significant incidents -- an improvised explosive device that fell behind the targeted convoy and a couple of rocket attacks on the western end of their assigned area.

Their duties included security operations, such as escorting military leaders and supporting Iraqi forces, and logistical operations.

Hughes credited the Marines for keeping themselves safe in still-hazardous territory and for completing the mission, which had been scheduled to last two more months. The company was brought home early because of improving security conditions, he said.

"These are good men," he said in an interview. "It's on their shoulders that we've been successful."

The Marines -- most of whom live outside the Yakima Valley, primarily in Western Washington -- will remain on active duty through the end of the year.

Navy corpsman Joe Saenz of Sunnyside, a phlebotomist for Toppenish Community Hospital, said he expects to spend most of his time off taking caring of his two children. His wife, meanwhile, will take a short vacation.

"It's just a big transition, coming from Iraq to Yakima," the 40-year-old Saenz said.

* Mark Morey can be reached at 509-577-7671 or mmorey@yakimaherald.com.