Monday ceremony will welcome soldier returning home from Afghanistan

Friends of a solider returning home from a 10-month tour in Afghanistan have organized a Monday morning welcome-home ceremony in Oak Ridge.

The family of U.S. Army Sgt. Neal Martin is expected to arrive in Oak Ridge at about 8 a.m. Monday.

The family is coming from Gatlinburg and plan to arrive in Oak Ridge on Pellissippi Parkway before driving down Lafayette Drive, then down New York and Vermont avenues in a newer-model Nissan Rogue with license plate number M33-23P, organizers said.

Organizer Valarie Emery said several businesses and emergency workers are participating in various ways. Among other things, she is trying to get local businesses to change their signs to welcome Martin home. She is asking those who are interested in participating in the welcome-home ceremony on Monday to meet at New York Avenue and Oak Ridge Turnpike, or New York and Vermont avenues, or Vermont and Venus Road.

Emery said the route has been approved by the Oak Ridge Police Department, and officers will be present. She asked supporters to line up around 7:50 a.m. Monday.

“Our main priority is to ensure safety, not only to the supporters but also vehicles that will be passing by,” Emery said. “Our plan is to have supporters line up at New York and the Turnpike (utilizing the abandoned bank parking lot), New York and Vermont, Vermont and Venus, and along Venus (utilizing the Harvest Buffet back parking lot).”

Emery said Martin’s oldest son is a freshman at the high school, and his youngest son is four.