Guard Unit Comes Home
Specialist Valonta Cantrell of Toccoa holds his newborn son Tuesday
The 876th Engineering Company comes home for Christmas after completing its mission.
The Georgia National Guard unit based out of Toccoa was re-united with their families in a ceremony Tuesday in the Currahee Arena at Stephens County High School.
For some it was a chance to re-unite with loved ones they had not seen in months, a moment with added meaning just two days before Christmas.
Christina McCrory of Lyons, Georgia said she is excited to have her dad home for the holiday.
She called it the best Christmas present she could get.
Christina’s mom, Kyela McCrory, echoed that.
“That is all I wanted under my tree,” she said of having her husband home.
Ashley Danielson of Gainesville got to welcome her husband home as well.
She said it is a blessing that the families are all re-united for Christmas because the holiday is all about spending time with family.
Danielson said she is looking forward to doing just that.
“We are just going to watch movies all day and eat food and just spend time together,” said Danielson. “It is going to be great.”
While many were re-united, at least one returning Guardsman met a new family member for the first time.
Specialist Valonta Cantrell of Toccoa met his newborn son for the first time Tuesday.
Cantrell said there was a lot going through his mind.
“What is going through my mind is I could not wait to meet him and now I get to meet him and all he wants to do is sleep,” said Cantrell with a smile. “But I know when he wakes up he is going to be a full bundle of joy.”
He went on to say being his newborn son’s First Christmas makes it even more special.
“It is wonderful,” said Cantrell. “I cannot wait to see how he reacts and be with him on his first Christmas.”
More than 100 Guardsmen returned home on Tuesday.
The unit shipped out for Afghanistan over the summer after a send-off ceremony in Toccoa in May.
Overseas, the unit trained Afghan engineers and also worked on deconstructing Bagram Airfield.
Company Commander Captain Tyler J. Cook said he is proud of the work the unit did.
“When we got there, we were about 30 days behind and when we left, we were about a month ahead, so I was very proud of these soldiers,” said Cook. “They did an outstanding job.”
Cook went on to say that the unit also appreciates all of the support it has received from Toccoa and Stephens County.
“Toccoa has been extremely supportive of us,” said Cook. “The community was constantly outreaching to us, bringing us food when we were training because they just wanted to give us something extra.”
He said it feels really good to have the community support the unit as much as it does.
The Guard said this is the first Christmas in 13 years that no units from the Georgia Army National Guard are deployed over the holiday.
However, the Guard said about 40 individual Guardsmen who volunteered to remain deployed and help non-Georgia units overseas.