Troops Not Welcomed Home

Rankin, N.Y. -- In a scene reminiscent of the Vietnam era, troops returning home from Iraq were spat on by community members in this small tight-knit community.

"What are they doing home?" asked the father of one of the soldiers. "There's a war on -- we need to stay there till the job is finished."

He then strode over to where his son was pleading for a kind word from his wife and slapped him across the face.

"We believe in this war, because freedom is worth fighting for," sobbed the soldier's wife. I know he misses us, but his duty is in Iraq.

She added that she did not tell their three children that their father was home. "I couldn't explain to them how ashamed I feel. I won't be able to face them again until Jared's on that plane heading back to Iraq."

Minister of Christ's Blood Church Paul Maynard summed up the community's feeling. "We are all so proud of our boys -- for fighting for what we believe in. It was a hard blow to hear that they were all coming home before the war is over. We want our pride back. We want our boys back in the sands of Iraq.

It was a different scene at the Laid-to-Rest funeral parlor.

The parents of dead soldier Nathan Brill were swelled with pride as they greeted visitors paying their respects.

"This is what freedom is all about," said Brill's mother. "We're so happy!"

Quickly adjusting to their lucky fate were Brill's widow and children, two girls aged 4 and 6, all of them basking in the admiring and even envious attention.

"Nathan could not have made me happier," gushed his widow, Michaela.

"Michaela's never looked prettier," noted Nathan's brother Pete. "There's a glow and a confidence there that I never saw before.