The first soldiers are home.

Here's a picture of the guys in Iraq getting ready to come home. This is Jonathan's company. Jonathan is not in this picture, but he's 2 feet to the right, off the camera.

The first soldiers from Jonathan's brigade are home. This brigade, by the way, is the first group coming home after the 3 month extensions were imposed. The news is covering the homecoming preparations nearly every day here. We're getting pretty excited. Here's an article:

Associated Press - September 4, 2007
3-2 Stryker brigade returning to Fort Lewis

FORT LEWIS, Wash. (AP) - An Army band played and families waved "welcome home" signs as they greeted 140 soldiers who have returned to Fort Lewis after more than a year in Iraq.
The soldiers at Tuesday's ceremony are the first of 3,800 soldiers in the 3-2 Stryker brigade (3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division) who are returning this month. They have been deployed in Baghdad and Mosul, in northern Iraq.

Fort Lewis spokesman Joe Piek (peek) says 47 soldiers from the brigade have died. When the soldiers were deployed in June of last year they expected a 1-year deployment, but that was extended to 15 months.