U.S. Department of Defense

Homecoming Parade for Returned Cavalry Troops

Army Staff Sgt. Jeff Lange, drum major for the 62nd Army Band, leads his soldiers during a Welcome Home Heroes Parade in El Paso, Texas, Feb. 27, 2008. The parade honored troops from 1st Infantry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team, and the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade’s 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery, recently returned from deployments in Iraq and the Middle East.

Army Col. Stephen Twitty leads more than 3,000 of his soldiers through the streets of downtown El Paso, Texas, during a Welcome Home Heroes Parade Feb. 27, 2008. Twitty is commander of the 1st Cavalry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team.

Unit guidons dip their flags in a salute as the soldiers file past the reviewing stand during a Welcome Home Heroes Parade in El Paso, Texas, Feb. 27, 2008. The guidons are assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division, 4th Brigade Combat Team's Special Troops Battalion.

Nearly 3,000 members of the 1st Cavalry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team, march down the streets of El Paso, Texas, during a Welcome Home Heroes Parade, Feb. 27, 2008.

Soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, the Warrior Transition Unit and the 3rd Battalion, 43rd, Air Defense Artillery, 11th ADA Brigade, march through the streets of downtown El Paso, Texas, during a parade held in their honor by the city, Feb. 27, 2008.

Soldiers escort 31 riderless horses, with the traditional empty boots in the stirrups of their saddles to honor the troops they lost while deployed in Iraq, during a homecoming parade in El Paso, Texas, Feb. 27, 2008. The soldiers are assigned to the 1st Infantry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team.

Wesley and Peggy Bushnell stand beside the riderless horse that honored their son, Sgt. William Bushnell, during El Paso, Texas’s homecoming parade for the 1st Infantry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team, Feb. 27, 2008. Wesley Bushnell walked with the horse during the parade as a tribute to his son, who was killed in Iraq.

Wounded members of the 1st Infantry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team stand at attention during a homecoming parade in El Paso, Texas, as a narrator reads the names of the 31 soldiers the brigade lost while deployed in Iraq.

Wounded soldiers assigned to the Fort Bliss Warrior Transition Unit wave to the crowd from their M1083 medium tactical vehicle during a Feb. 27, 2008, homecoming parade hosted by El Paso, Texas. The soldiers are members of the 1st Infantry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team.

Diana Garcia, with 4-year-old son Rolando Garcia Jr. and 1-year-old daughter Jocelynn Garcia, pays tribute to her husband, Army Spc. Rolando Garcia, by holding up a sign during a soldiers' homecoming parade in El Paso, Texas, Feb. 27. Her husband is assigned to the 27th Brigade Support Battalion.

Army Staff Sgt. Jeff Lange, drum major for the 62nd Army Band, leads his soldiers during a Welcome Home Heroes Parade in El Paso, Texas, Feb. 27, 2008. The parade honored troops from 1st Infantry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team, and the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade’s 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery, recently returned from deployments in Iraq and the Middle East.
Photo by Donna Miles