With one eye on the time and another on a darkened Treasure Avenue, the growing crowd waiting in drizzle outside of the National Guard Armory in Libby on New Year’s Eve wondered if their loved ones would make it home before the clock struck midnight.

Tom Gallagher, who was among the soldiers of the Montana Army National Guard’s 639th Quartermaster Company returning to Libby, provided updates via cellphone from his seat on the bus.

Updates were shared every few minutes: “They just passed Hammer Cutoff” … “They’re about nine minutes out” … “OK, they’re going by the truck stop.”

At the strike of midnight, a few exclamations of “Happy New Year” could be heard while fireworks went off in the distance somewhere in town. Only a couple of minutes later, the bus rolled into the armory parking lot.

It was the perfect beginning to a new year … back home with family and friends. The soldiers who had served in Iraq for the past year all made it back safely.

The bus had pulled into town with an escort from the Libby Volunteer Fire Department and law enforcement. When the bus arrived and soldiers began to disembark, fireworks shot off into the dark, wet sky. It served as an appropriate backdrop as families and close friends reunited.

Yes, it was the great way to start a new year … with the words, “Let’s go home.”

— Brad Fuqua, The Western News