Showing posts with label Fort Campbell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fort Campbell. Show all posts

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Fort Campbell Charity Bookkeeper Kept Funds

Bookkeeper pleads guilty to defrauding Fort Campbell charity 
WKRN web staff
Published: November 5, 2015

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A woman pleaded guilty to defrauding more than $54,000 from a Fort Campbell charity on Thursday.

Anita Marshall, 43, of Daphne, Alabama and formerly of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, pleaded guilty to a charge of bank fraud association with her theft and subsequent use of checks from the Fort Campbell Thrift Shop.

Marshall served as the thrift store’s assistant manager and bookkeeper. She admitted that she stole blank checks from the thrift shop, issued these checks to herself, forged the signature of the thrift shop manager and then deposited these checks into her own accounts.

The fraudulent activity occurred from August 2009 until November 2010 and involved 91 checks totaling more than $54,000.
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Thursday, August 27, 2015

Fort Campbell Soldier, Father of 5, Needs Prayers After Motorcycle Crash

Fort Campbell soldier remains in trauma unit after motorcycle crash
WKRN NBC News
By Talia Kaplan
Published: August 26, 2015

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A Fort Campbell soldier, Nick Sprowl, is in the trauma unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Clarksville police said he was hit by a car on his motorcycle and was seriously injured.

“He’s a fighter,” said wife Stephanie Sprowl. She is wearing his wedding ring because he can’t.

“Both hands are broken,” said Sprowl. “Spine is fractured, neck injuries, both arms are broken.”

She said his jaw, sternum, and ribs are also broken.

“His liver and spleen both have lacerations; his left kidney is damaged,” Sprowl said.

She told News 2 the father of her five young children, ages 2, 3, 6, 8, and 12, will never be the same.
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Thursday, August 13, 2015

Fort Campbell Soldier Shot and Killed

Fort Campbell soldier shot, killed outside home
WKRN News
By Talia Kaplan
Published: August 11, 2015

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Authorities are investigating after a 21-year-old Fort Campbell soldier was shot and killed outside his home early Sunday morning.

According to a release, Liperial “Savon” Easterling was shot as he approached his home located in the 2800 block of Teakwood Drive just after 1 a.m.

A man who lives across from Easterling said he heard about five gunshots, and when he looked outside, he saw a woman holding the soldier looking sad and frantic. He didn’t see anyone else.

Easterling, a High Point, North Carolina-native, was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division.

“He loved the army; he loved it. He couldn’t stop talking about it. He loved serving his country. He didn’t deserve that,” said Shaperia Pegram, Easterling’s cousin.
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Saturday, August 1, 2015

Fort Campbell Soldier Found Dead Outside Courthouse

Soldier at Fort Campbell dies from self-inflicted gunshot
The Leaf-Chronicle
Ray Howze
July 31, 2015

FORT CAMPBELL – A soldier at Fort Campbell died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Thursday.

According to the post’s Facebook page, the incident occurred at about 1:30 p.m. outside the U.S. District Courthouse at Fort Campbell. The post reads:

“At approximately 1:30 p.m. today, a Fort Campbell Soldier died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound outside of the U.S. District courthouse at Fort Campbell. The name of the Soldier is being withheld at this time. No other individuals were injured. The shooting is currently is under investigation.”

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Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Lt. Gen. Charles Wilson Bagnal, 101st VIetnam Veteran Remembered

Former 101st commander honored with memorial service
The Leaf-Chronicle
Ray Howze
July 14, 2015
Lt. Gen. Charles Wilson Bagnal served as commanding general for the 101st from 1981 to 1983. (Photo: Submitted)
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Lt. Gen. Charles Wilson Bagnal, who served as commanding general for the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell from 1981 to 1983, was honored in a memorial service with full military honors Tuesday at West Point Cemetery in New York.

Bagnal, 81, died June 30 in Columbia, South Carolina.

Bagnal joined the U.S. Military Academy after graduating from high school in 1952.

Before deploying to Vietnam in 1966, Bagnal had a number of operational assignments in aviation and artillery units at Fort Campbell; Fort Still, Oklahoma; and Hanau, Germany. He commanded the C. Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam, according to the obituary.

He served as a military assistant to the secretary of the Army from 1969 to 1971. Bagnal later returned to Fort Campbell, where he served as a commander in the 101st Aviation Group and as an assistant division commander in the 101st Airborne Division before taking over as commanding general.
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Friday, June 26, 2015

Fort Knox Soldier Killed Near Fort Campbell

Soldier struck, killed by car near Fort Campbell 
Army Times
By Kevin Lilley, Staff writer
June 26, 2015

A 25-year-old soldier stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, was struck and killed by a car in Clarksville, Tennessee, on Tuesday while undergoing training at nearby Fort Campbell.

Sgt. Kenneth Ronald Berry attempted to cross U.S. Route 79 on foot "for an unknown reason," according to a Clarksville Police Department news release, causing the driver of an oncoming SUV to swerve in an attempt to avoid him.
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Monday, June 15, 2015

PTSD Cuts in Many Directions

Iraq War veteran struggles to regain basic human emotions after 14 years of combat
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
BY ANDY MARTINO
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Back in the states, Sean was trained to kick ass and destroy. Now his orders are to be sensitive, engage with the people, build relationships. He is supposed to show compassion, just as he is losing the ability to do so.

You lie awake one night in the basement of a mansion that belonged to one of Saddam’s sons, either Uday or Qusay Hussein, wondering what kind of twisted s**t went down there, and at noon the next day you see death bobbing in the Tigris River.

The caravan of Humvees stops, and soldiers begin to step out into the 120-degree Baghdad day. You hear on your radio, “Hey I think we’ve got something in the water,” then, “yeah, it’s a body.”

You walk to the river, past your men. They’re smoking, chatting, securing the area. The guy in the water is an Iraqi civilian, or was. Now he is face down, gently bumping against the concrete wall that divides water from land. His stomach is bloated. He is wearing khakis and a short-sleeved, button-down shirt. Hands tied, exit wounds in the back of his head.

And you know what bothers you most? That you have to wait around for the Iraqi security forces to arrive and clean him up, which will take hours. Which means you will miss dinner at the chow hall. Which means that you will have nothing but a Pop Tart to eat before you go to sleep. This matters much more than the dead guy, his family, whatever.

It is late summer, 2006, nearly a year into your first deployment, and this moment tells you that your empathy is shot.
But he is starting to realize that it is not peace he is feeling. He has not, in fact, conquered stress. He lost the ability to care.

That’s not to minimize how combat rewires the brain for anger, too. PTSD cuts in many directions.
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Sunday, June 14, 2015

Veteran Fights Against Fort Campbell Malpractice

Campbell County Veteran Fights Military Malpractice 
WSET ABC News 13
By Mona Abdi
Posted: Jun 12, 2015
An MRI scan taken at a hospital in Fort Campbell a week before he left the military showed ... Hall could've been diagnosed then --- but was left untreated for 5 years. "They said it was my fault because I should of checked" said Hall.
Campbell County, VA - A Campbell County veteran who fought for America is fighting a new battle here at home. For Nelson Hall the conflict is both personal and painful.

"They teach you don't be a sick hall warrior, don't complain about injuries deal with it" said Nelson Hall.

After 5 years in the Army and 3 tours overseas, Hall is no stranger to battle. "I was air assault, so I jumped out of helicopters and stuff" said Hall.

But his toughest fight began after he was medically discharged in 2008. Hall qualified for retirement because of the insurmountable medical problems he suffered from towards the end of his service.

"I noticed memory loss, I was always at the TMC sick, broke out in hives" said Hall. But worst of all, Hall says, were the headaches. "Sometimes it's like an electrical shock going down the back of my head down my neck."

The pain continued well after he left the Army. "Finally one of my VA doctors asked for another MRI and that's when they found out it came out abnormal" said Hall.
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Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Auto Dealer Fined for Targeting Military Members

Auto dealer fined $50,000 for ad targeting military 
The Leaf-Chronicle
April 20, 2015

NASHVILLE – Middle Tennessee auto dealer, Wholesale Inc., has agreed to immediately change its advertising practices and pay the State of Tennessee $50,000, Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III announced Monday.

A Davidson County Court approved the settlement between Wholesale Inc., the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, and the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs.

The agreement centers around two advertising mailers sent to would be customers. One of the mailers specifically targeted service members living near Fort Campbell. Wholesale Inc. operates used car sales lots in downtown Nashville, the Rivergate area and in Mount Juliet.

After reviewing a service member’s complaint filed at Fort Campbell, the state alleged that the defendant made numerous false representations in violation of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act.

According to the state, a fictitious lender called “CreditAble Auto Funding” claimed to be “by military, for military” and was offering a limited amount of loans to military personnel.
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Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Fort Campbell "I Was There" Film Project Ends Silence of PTSD

In 2010 I took my first digital media class at Valencia College. I had been doing videos for 4 years but knew there were a lot of things I had to learn. Two years later and 5 certifications on my wall, over 200 videos and student loans, it was all worth it.

Doing a class like this for the veterans of the digital age is a fabulous idea. I wasn't there. All I can do is tell their stories. These veterans were "there" and these are their stories.

Fort Campbell Workshop uses Filmmaking as healing process for Veterans
Clarksville Online
Written by David E. Gillespie
Blanchfield Army Community Hospital
April 6, 2015
For many of the 25 participants at Fort Campbell, the results were quite evident as the task of filmmaking required social interaction and gave some a voice that had been silent.
I Was There film workshop mentor Sean Mannion, left, advises filmmaker Spc. James Bomar II, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, during the final edits of a collaborative film project.
(David E. Gillespie)

Fort Campbell, KY – Lacking only the glitz and glamour of Hollywood’s red carpet, Veteran filmmakers were stars in their own rights as a four-day “I Was There” Film Workshop culminated in a packed-house screening event at Cole Park Commons Thursday.

With a unique approach to treating the psychological damages of war, the free workshop encouraged Soldiers to share their experiences through mentored filmmaking classes at Fort Campbell’s Warrior Transition Battalion.

In half-day sessions, participants began March 23rd, with an introduction to film theory and practical techniques, and collaborated all week from concept to shooting and editing, all while grouped with fellow veterans.

Founded by Ben Patton, grandson of General George S. Patton, the workshops are aimed at helping veterans connect with each other, interpret traumatic experiences and substantially reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress (PTS).
read more here

Friday, January 9, 2015

Fort Campbell "Reboot" Gets Grant to Fight PTSD

Fort Campbell PTSD care gets Community Health Foundation funds
Leaf Chronicle
Jimmy Settle, Clarksville
January 9, 2015


CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The Clarksville-Montgomery County Community Health Foundation – a public advocacy board entrusted with disbursing public assets flowing from Clarksville Volunteer Health Inc. – approved almost $469,000 in grants this week, including $127,800 for the organization’s first-ever Fort Campbell grant recipient.

Clarksville Volunteer Health is the 20 percent minority joint-venture partner in Gateway Medical Center, and is an entity that exists to transfer revenues and receipts from publicly owned assets in Gateway to the Community Health Foundation for distribution to various health-related initiatives.

Sarah Schwartz, the local Health Foundation’s grant coordinator, said applications were due Nov. 1 for the organization’s January cycle of grants.

“We had quite a few new applicants,” Schwartz said. “We awarded $468,873 in this round.”

Reboot Combat Recovery this week became the organization’s first recipient on post. “We just added Fort Campbell to our grant area last year,” Schwartz said. “They are quite an impressive group and have become so successful in their approach to (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) that they have military bases all over the country calling them. They are going to Washington, D.C., in February to train a group there.”

Reboot exists “to help servicemembers and their families heal from the spiritual and moral wounds of war associated with PTSD and combat trauma.” It was founded in 2011 in Montgomery County, and since that time has served over 400 individuals, at no charge, through a 12-week combat trauma healing course, one-on-one mentorship meetings, monthly reunions and biannual retreats.

Reboot currently has locations at Fort Campbell, Nashville, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. “This grant request for $127,800 was fully awarded and would specifically be for Montgomery County and Fort Campbell citizens,” Schwartz said.
read more here

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Man Facing Charges After Fort Campbell Soldier Shot

Ft. Campbell soldier shot on New Year’s remains critical 
Leaf Chronicle
Tavia D. Green
January 2, 2015
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – A Fort Campbell soldier who was shot by the father of her child on New Year’s Day remains in critical but stable condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Clarksville Police report the victim, 22-year-old Chelcee Sine-Garza, was shot by Malcolm R. Turner multiple times at her Cranklen Circle home around 12:50 p.m. following an argument, according to a Clarksville Police report.

When Clarksville Police arrived, they found Sine-Garza laying on the ground bleeding. She was covered in blood and had several gunshot wounds to her body, but was alert and able to talk, according to the report.

Sine-Garza told police Turner came to the house with his wife in a blue car. They had an argument, and he shot her. She told the police Turner lived in Colorado and the car had a Georgia plate.
read more here

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Fort Campbell Green Berets in Afghanistan From the Start

Green Berets took center stage in war to rebuild Afghanistan
Fayetteville Observer
By Drew Brooks Military editor
Posted: Sunday, December 14, 2014

Staff photo by Andrew Craft
Special Forces in Afghanistan
At Fort Bragg Col. Michael Sullivan is commander 
of the 3rd Battalion 3rd Special Forces Group.
In Afghanistan, he leads those soldiers and a
small group from the 7th Special Forces Group.

CAMP VANCE, Afghanistan - Michael Sullivan was training to join the Special Forces when he and his fellow soldiers had a real-world lesson to talk about in a food court on Fort Bragg.

On Sept. 9, 2001, suicide attackers posing as journalists assassinated Ahmed Shah Massoud, a leader of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan.

The Green Beret trainees were familiar with the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, Sullivan said. They knew Massoud was seen as a threat to the Taliban regime.

Two days later, on Sept. 11, Sullivan - then a captain - was signing for textbooks for his language courses when the planes crashed into the towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

Almost immediately, the Special Forces trainees were speculating - correctly - that the attacks originated in Afghanistan.

For Sullivan and thousands of other Special Forces soldiers, the attacks were life-defining.

Just days after the terrorists struck, Green Berets from the Fort Campbell-based 5th Group were in Afghanistan. In more than 13 years since, the Special Forces presence in the country has been a constant. Thousands of soldiers have given years out of their lives to the Afghanistan mission.

Many have been wounded.

Many have died.

In the process, they say, they have built the foundation for a future in a country that has known decades of war.

Mark Schwartz was a Green Beret major when he became one of the first American soldiers to enter Afghanistan after 9/11.

"You can imagine, you've never been to combat before and you're going to get off an aircraft with yourself and about 10 of your closest friends and you're walking into an uncertain environment," he said.

Now a brigadier general helping to lead special operations forces in Afghanistan, Schwartz said he and his team flew into northern Afghanistan from Central Asia to organize and assist the anti-Taliban forces.
read more here

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Fort Campbell Soldier Killed Crossing Street 2 Months After Afghanistan Mission

Police ID Connecticut man killed while walking on I-40
The Tennessean
Adam Tamburin
November 24, 2014

James Garvey, center, with his parents
the day he returned to Fort Campbell from Afghanistan in September.

(Photo: Submitted)

Police in Nashville are turning to the community for help answering questions about a young soldier's final moments on Interstate 40.

Garvey was killed early Sunday morning when two vehicles slammed into him while he was walking along the interstate near the Nashville International Airport. It is unclear why he was there; investigators did not find his car nearby.

Answers, if they come, will likely do little to ease the grief of the 24-year-old's shell-shocked family. Garvey's parents traveled from Connecticut to Ft. Campbell in September to welcome the young soldier back from Afghanistan, where he had flown Apache gunships, his father said.

In an email, James Garvey's father, William Garvey, said welcoming his son back to American soil just two months ago ranked among the happiest days of his life.
read more here

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus Praising Hiring Veterans

David Petraeus: Veterans are 'precious resources'
The Tennessean
Adam Tamburin
November 18, 2014
Retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus attends the “Vets@Work” job fair Tuesday in the Music City Center. Petraeus a military pedigree made veterans an enviable hire.
(Photo: Samuel M. Simpkins / The Tennessean )

Retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus was in Nashville on Tuesday to encourage local businesses to hire veterans, who he said were among "our nation's most precious resources."

Speaking before a job fair for veterans and their spouses, Petraeus, who also served as CIA director, said a military pedigree made veterans an enviable hire. In particular, Petraeus praised the 2.5 million veterans who have served in the Middle East since 9/11, whom he called "the new Greatest Generation."

Petraeus oversaw military action in Iraq and Afghanistan for years after 9/11. He also commanded the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell from July 2002 to May 2004.

"If companies are looking for individuals who have leadership experience, who exemplify selfless service, who understand the importance of teamwork and who know what it takes to achieve results under tough conditions, then American veterans are what those companies need," he said. "Their sense of duty, their courage, their loyalty and their professional experience have not departed when they've taken off that uniform for the last time."

Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin L. Hill, who served at Fort Campbell and in combat alongside Petraeus, acknowledged that some returning veterans face a litany of challenges, including post-traumatic stress disorder. But he stressed that those challenges shouldn't be seen as career enders.
read more here

Monday, November 10, 2014

Command Sgt. Maj. Chris Fields, On Being Restored

‘Blown up 14 times’ and tough enough to cry
The Leaf-Chronicle
Philip Grey
November 10, 2014

The command sergeant major of the ‘No Slack’ Battalion featured in the war documentary, ‘The Hornets Nest,’ had to fight his way through his personal hornets nest of PTSD in order to help others
A long way from the battlefield, retired Command Sgt. Maj. Chris Fields still fights a war on behalf of soldiers with PTSD with the support of wife Debbie and his involvement with Operation Restored Warrior.
(Photo: THE LEAF-CHRONICLE/PHILIP GREY)

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – There’s a Facebook page out there called “You know you’re the REAL Chris Fields IF” and it good-naturedly celebrates a legendarily tough real soldier with funny quips about his superhuman attributes.

The page was put up by a minister friend of Fields who was trying to get in touch with him and knew when word got around that Fields would find him. Fields laughs about it now, but said he was ready to clean someone’s clock when he first heard about it.

And the page isn’t that much of a stretch of the truth. As a man who has been “blown up” 14 verified times and survived, Fields has earned his “tough guy” bona fides a few times over.

But while his toughness was unquestioned by everyone, after numerous deployments from the Horn of Africa to the sands of Iraq, it was very much in question in his own heart following his last deployment to Iraq in 2008.

That’s when he and Operation Restored Warrior found each other, through the Grace of God as he tells it.

With his wife, Debbie, by his side in a comfortable home in Adams, as he simultaneously petted a kitten named “Cheeto” and a hound named “Tucker,” he told the tale of how his facade crumbled and his inner pain was revealed through the fact that a chaplain forgot his hat in Fields’s office one day at Fort Campbell in early 2009.
read more here

ORW CSM Chris Fields Testimony
from Justin Roberts


ORW CSM Chris Fields Testimony from Justin Roberts on Vimeo.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Helicopter crashes on Fort Benning, 2 Fort Campbell Soldiers Killed

Helicopter crashes on Fort Benning, two aviators killed
WTVM News

FORT BENNING, GA (WXTX) – Public affairs officials confirm two Special Operations Aviation soldiers died in a helicopter training accident at Fort Benning.

The accident happened Monday afternoon around 4:15 p.m. on a live-fire range at Fort Benning.

We are told the aviators were assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

They died after their AH-6M Little Bird helicopter crashed while conducting routine military training involving Ranger and other special operations personnel.
read more here

Monday, October 27, 2014

Fort Campbell Boots Honor Fallen

UPDATE A last-minute outpouring of support for massive memorial project at Fort Campbell ensures every fallen hero since 9/11 – all 7,000 – will be remembered for Military Survivor Appreciation Week
Durbin, an Iraq War veteran, testified Tuesday that he was accosted and shot while sleeping in his car on Allison Hill after giving a fellow soldier a ride home.
Fort Campbell Survivor Outreach Services Honors Fallen Soldiers with Boot Display
Clarksville Online
October 27, 2014
Soldiers with the 551st Military Police Company and 1/506 Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team arrived first thing Friday morning to start setting up the Survivor Outreach Services boot display honoring service members who died in support of the Global War on Terror since Sept. 11, 2001.
(Photo by Nondice Thurman, Fort Campbell Public Affairs Office)

Fort Campbell, KY – In honor of Military Survivor Appreciation Week, formerly known as Gold Star Family Appreciation Week, more than 5,000 boots are on display on the lawn of the 101st Airborne Division Headquarters.

The boots have been collected from military service members across Fort Campbell and abroad to honor service members who died in support of the Global War on Terror since September 11th, 2001.

This display of combat boots honors the memories and sacrifice of the military men and women who gave their lives while serving our country.
read more here

Monday, October 13, 2014

Surge in PTSD Veterans Seeking Help at Fort Campbell

Counselors see surge of Fort Campbell war vets
The Leaf-Chronicle
Philip Grey
October 12, 2014

Clarksville’s SAFE harbor for soldiers, veterans and families experiencing its own surge

Soldiers, veterans and family members shared the songs they wrote recently during a healing songwriting retreat offered by Soldiers And Families Embraced, a Clarksville non-profit offering free counseling and retreats for anyone affected by war.
(Photo: LawrenceTaylor, SUBMITTED)

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – With the military in drawdown-mode and combat deployments scaling back, a local nonprofit providing free counseling to former and current service members and their families is seeing a surge in clients.

“We aren’t positive what the cause of this surge in soldiers, veterans and their families seeking counseling is,” said the Rev. Jodi McCullah, executive director of SAFE (Soldiers and Families Embraced), “but we can guess. The cessation of back-to-back deployments and the drawdown have left too many soldiers and veterans with free time. No mission means time to reflect on pain, trauma, guilt and anger.

“For months, we have been seeing about 170 clients a week, but, last month, the number of active clients jumped to 220. We have averaged a dozen intake appointments a week all month, and, if this continues at this pace, our active client roster will reach 320 by end of the year, nearly doubling.”
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Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Fort Campbell Soldiers Welcomed Back From Afghanistan

Almost 200 Ft. Campbell soldiers return home from Afghanistan
WBIR
September 22, 2014
Soldiers return home from Afghanistan
(Photo: WSMV)

Hundreds of Tennessee troops saw a true hero's welcome Monday. Almost 200 Fort Campbell soldiers returned home from Afghanistan to their Middle Tennessee homes.

It's the first time the soldiers were able to see their loved ones in almost 10 months. The members of the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade and the 2nd Brigade Combat team say nothing compares to seeing the faces that have gotten them through their tough times overseas.
read more here