Marines return from deployment to Anbar

Cpl. Stephan Silvers missed the birth of his son by about two weeks. Thursday, he met Tristan for the first time.

"They say it tends to get easier, but it really doesn't," said Silvers' wife, Vanessa. "This time was the hardest. He missed everything."

Silvers returned to Camp Lejeune after a roughly seven-month deployment to Iraq's Anbar province, one of 500 Marines from 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion to return home Thursday. The deployment was Silvers' third.

During the unit's time in Iraq, the Marines saw considerable improvements in the region, said Lt. Col. Stuart Harness, executive officer of 2nd LAR. The situation in Anbar province also had improved dramatically since the unit was deployed there in 2006, he said.

Lance Cpl. Jason Gerringer said the deployment was "a lot more boring" than last time, partly because there was less for the Marines to do.

The Iraqis are more involved now, he said, so "it was like we're just there in case they need us," he said.

The reunion with family and friends was delayed several hours, which was difficult for the waiting loved ones. Tiffany Padgett, waiting for her boyfriend, Lance Cpl. Matt Quillen, was having a hard time being patient.

"You wait for this moment, and then it lasts forever," Padgett said. "We've been down here all day ... My heart can't take it."

The deployment was the third for Katie Chandler's husband, Sgt. Sean Chandler. Katie went and stayed with her mother in Arkansas during the deployment, and said she stayed busy taking care of her 3-year-old son and 1 1/2-year-old daughter.

"There's a lot of rough spots without daddy," she said. "But we learn to deal."

While the whole family missed Sean Chandler, it is especially hard on the kids, said Chandler's mother, Marilyn Chandler.

"They miss him," she said.

The deployment was the first for corporals Nathan Klink and Zach Malone.

"I'm glad I went so nobody else had to go," Klink said.

Malone, whose family traveled from Kentucky to welcome him home, said the thing he missed the most when he was gone was his momma.

Klink said it was just the "little everyday things," like his car and his phone. Malone added "taking a shower" to the list.

"It was an experience," Malone said. "I wouldn't want to do it again."

Contact interactive content editor and military reporter Jennifer Hlad at jhlad@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8467.