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Bittersweet Homecoming for Newport Soldier
By
CAROLINE GABLE
Story Created:
Jul 30, 2010 at 6:53 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Jul 30, 2010 at 7:35 PM EDT
NEWPORT, NY (WKTV) - There are banners and signs all over the Village of Newport for 21 year old L.J. Terzioski. Neighbors know him as the prom king, a stand out athlete and now as a soldier.
L.J. says nothing could have prepared him for life in Afghanistan, where things he used to take for granted, like shampoo and a hot shower, are now luxuries. Friday night he is grateful to be home, out of his uniform shooting hoops. Still, it has been hard to spend holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthdays overseas.
Even this happy homecoming comes with a catch, he's only home for two weeks. After those two weeks L.J. is headed back to Afghanistan for another three months.
In that short time he has a long list of friends to see and things to do. On the very top of that list, eat some authentic chicken riggies.
In Afganistan L.J. says the there is no rank among friends, and the bonds he's made with fellow soldiers are unlike any other, when every day brings danger no one can predict.
L.J. says the support from the community and strangers helps keep him going.
"They thank you, welcome you home," Terzioski said. "You've got people you don't even know walking down the isle, they greet you, if you need anything they help you, they point you in the right direction. I feel like a celebrity."
L.J. says that the mindset he's in, in Afghanistan, is to think of the worst and always hope for the best.
As tough as the tour in Afghanistan is on the local soldier, its arguably just as tough on his mom.
"I started crying the minute his plane landed, watching him while he walked down the hallways and I could see his eyes and we both knew, we both started crying," said army mom Barbara Gaston.
When asked about the politics behind the War in Afghanistan Gaston says she doesn't know if soldiers should be there or not, all she knows is that she loves this county and her son, and plans to support them both.
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