Sunday, May 30, 2010

Charlie 4LAR Bittersweet Return Home Without Lance Cpls. Carlos A. Aragon and Nigel Olsen

Deseret NewsBLUFFDALE — There were hugs, kisses and tears as family and friends welcomed home 105 Marines of Charlie Company of the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion on Saturday morning.

But the reunion at Camp Williams, where the company is based, was bittersweet because of the two marines who didn't return.

The first week in March, Lance Cpls. Carlos A. Aragon and Nigel Olsen were killed in the volatile Helmand province in Afghanistan in separate attacks. Both were graduates of Mountain View High School in Orem.

Saturday morning, Kim Olsen, Nigel Olsen's mother, accepted hugs and condolences from many of the Marines as the tears flowed freely.

"I am really excited to have these guys come home," she said. "They are all my children now. If I can't hug my son, I am going to hug all the others."

Charlie Company was returning after a seven-month deployment in Afghanistan.

Cpl. David Talbot, who had been sent home after being injured by an improvised explosive device two days after Aragon was killed, was happy to see the rest of the company return.

"I have been waiting for this since I came here," Talbot said. "I am excited to be going home."

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