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There was happiness and relief today at the Salt Lake Airport as six Seabees returned to Salt Lake from Iraq.
Seabees are the construction battalions of the U.S. Navy. Their duties while serving in Iraq included building bridges and repairing schools. But now that they're home, they tell us their duties will consist of spending a lot time with their families.
CM1 (SCW) Michael Raulston said, "It's just good to be back here because you don't realize, you don't know what you have until you're not here. You really don't."
"You just go forward, and you do what you have to do because this is the job," said Michael Raulston's wife Lori. "But when it's over, you're like, ‘Let's not do it again.'"
After an eight-month deployment to Iraq, and what seemed like a never ending flight back to Salt Lake, it's no surprise that Michael Raulston and his wife were happy to see each other. He said, "My main job was to move supplies from camp to camp, and keep our troops basically fed, and supplies keep the materials that they need to build up the bases and repair the country moving."
Raulston and the five other Seabees who returned home to cheering loved ones today worked hard in Iraq to pass the time. SWCN Ryan March said, "It was crazy at first getting in there, but you get comfortable, you get out and do your job, and you know that's the main focus. That's what gets you home quick. You just keep busy and do what you got to do."
Several Seabees are still due to come home. They'll be arriving in the next few days. In the past two weeks, about 15 have returned home.
E-mail: corton@ksl.com
