Empire Editorial: A joyful day for Juneau
Today Juneau gets a rare opportunity to unite on a cause related to the war in Iraq and to put off the passionate debate that has reverberated across town and on this page since the 2003 invasion. Our soldiers are coming home.
The arrival of this morning's flight from Anchorage at 9:44 is not the city's first and won't be the last homecoming from Iraq, but it is substantial and momentous. After a year's tour at war in the Alaska National Guard's first combat deployment since World War II, 30 Juneau residents are expected home today.
Anticipate a throng to greet them at Juneau International Airport. Supporters have been a beehive of activity preparing this week - printing 1,500 signs of thanks to be hung around town, crafting lapel pins, tying yellow ribbons to trees. The Capital City Republican Women helped with the preparations for a hero's welcome that is richly deserved. Many of the citizen soldiers will see supportive signs posted in their workplaces when they return to civilian duty.
As the recent loss of Anchorage soldiers in an Iraq helicopter crash shows, the duty remains dangerous and those who undertake it deserve their neighbors' admiration. Juneau is lucky to have 30 of its own back today. Help make them feel at home.