Local Marines Return Home From Iraq

Terry Gobbo and several friends are counting down the hours until members of the 123rd marine Reserve unit arrive in Tulsa. The plan, a big welcome home.<br/><br/>For Gobbo, there will be double the tears,

Thursday, March 31st 2005, 3:59 pm

By: News On 6

Terry Gobbo and several friends are counting down the hours until members of the 123rd marine Reserve unit arrive in Tulsa. The plan, a big welcome home.

For Gobbo, there will be double the tears, twice the joy, an extra helping of happiness. Both of her sons, both marines, are coming home.

Terry Gobbo, Marine Mom "They'll sleep in their own beds tonight. That feeling as a mother to have your boys in their own beds, safe at home is a feeling that you can't even describe."

The brothers, 23 year old Adam and 20 year old Jonathon, serve in the same Reserve unit.
They've been away for one year, most of the time in Iraq.

Terry Gobbo, Marine Mom
"It's a mothers' greatest fear to send her boys off to war. her sons to war. But at the same time, you know their sense of duty, you know their sense of honor. And you're so proud for that."

Terry Gobbo says her sons have always been close, especially since their father's death nearly a decade ago.

Adam and Jonathon's dad died because of health complications caused by his exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam war. When he returned home from Vietnam, there were no celebrations or parties and Terry decided that wasn't going to happen when her sons returned home.

Terry Gobbo, Marine Mom "When I shipped the boys off, I vowed that they would have a different homecoming than he did."

Their homecoming will include the banners and balloons and later the presents they were unable to unwrap on Christmas. And most important of all, an embrace from a loving mother, glad to finally have her boys home.