Neighbors welcome GI brothers home from Iraq

By CHRISTINE OLLEY Philadelphia Daily News
olleyc@phillynews.com 215-854-5184
Joanne Thomas was expecting her two sons home from Iraq about 6:30 last night, but when she came back to her South Philadelphia home about 3, her neighbors grabbed her shopping bags and said, "Go hug your sons."
"I was shocked, I just cried," Thomas said.
Thomas' sons Daniel, 35, and Brian, 31, were stationed with the Army's 56th Stryker Brigade in Iraq for nine months.
"I was just glad they came home with ten fingers and ten toes," said the Thomases' father, Daniel Thomas Sr. "They came home whole and I'm glad they're home safe.
Daniel and Brian were welcomed back in style to their parents' home on Durfor Street near 4th in South Philadelphia with music, food and lots of hugs from family and friends.
"Iraq was hot and dry, it just sucked. It was like being in prison," Brian Thomas said.
"It feels great to be home," Daniel Thomas Jr. said, standing under a "Welcome Home" banner with the sons' names.
"The neighbors planned the whole thing," Joanne said with a smile.
"We didn't even know about it until they put a letter in our mailbox," she added.
Joanne said support from her neighbors was one of the many things that helped her get through the stress of having two sons stationed overseas.
When Daniel called home asking for more movies - because they had watched SpongeBob SquarePants and the Simpsons movie so many times they knew every word - the neighbors rallied with Joanne to collect DVDs to send to her sons and their comrades.
"We ended up sending about 150 DVDs over and not one of them was the same," Joanne said. "The neighbors are great."
Both Daniel Jr. and Brian are taking some time off to catch up with family and plan their next career moves.
Daniel Jr. is heading to Kosovo in March with the National Guard and Brian plans to stay with the Army but is still deciding in what capacity, he said.
For now, both brothers are soaking up the comforts of home they missed while they were away.
"Tony Luke's and Wawa," Brian said.
"The Philly cheesesteak and the women," Daniel Jr. said with a smile. "Definitely the women."