Marine home from Iraq

Baccus completes seven-month tour

By Dan Schneider/DMG Writer
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP — It was good to be back for Cpl. Erick Baccus of Lake Linden, Friday.

When Baccus’s plane touched down at about 1:45 p.m. at Houghton County Memorial Airport, bringing the Marine back from a seven-month tour of duty in Iraq, his family and friends were there to greet him. First they stood out on the tarmac to watch the plane land, then hurried into the terminal which they filled with their shouts as Baccus entered.

A big banner stretched over the doors on one side of the terminal, saying “Welcome Home Cpl. Erick Baccus,” but he was too busy hugging people to notice it at first.

“It’s nice to see civilization again,” Baccus said.

Baccus, 22, spent seven months with the Task Force National Capital Region patrolling and clearing travel routes in Iraq. The first month, he was in Anbar province, the next six in camp Ashraf in the northern part of Iraq.

“It was very hot, it’s just weird being in a different country,” he said.

He said what he missed most about Lake Linden was “the small community, knowing everybody.”

Baccus first arrived back in the U.S. on Tuesday, landing at Marine Corps Base Quantico. His wife, Cecilia, and one-year-old daughter MacKenzie met him there and flew back to Lake Linden with his mom, Rose Baccus; dad, Dick Baccus and his nephew.

The rest of Baccus’s family and friends had to hurry to get to the airport. It took them longer than expected to line the road from Houghton County Memorial Airport to Lake Linden with signs welcoming him home.



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