It might have been the first organized welcome-home ceremony for a veteran returning home from overseas in more than two decades. Organizers hope it won’t be the last.

An impromptu, grassroots ceremony on Monday morning welcomed home U.S. Army Sgt. Neal Martin, who returned to Oak Ridge after serving for 10 months in Afghanistan.

Val Emery, a friend of Martin’s wife Julie Martin, was the chief organizer.

“Every soldier deserves a hero’s welcome,” said Emery, who described herself as a “military brat” whose grandfather was killed in Laos in 1966 and has his name inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. [Read more…]