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Family and friends surprise young soldier back from training Date published: 12/23/2008
BY RUSTY DENNEN
RICHMOND --Heading home for Christmas after months of training in Arizona, Army Pfc. Tanya Pagnoni expected to be picked up at the airport by her mom, Rose, and one of Rose's friends.Instead, the Spotsylvania County 18-year old got the surprise of her life. Late Sunday night, amid the taxis, police cruisers and cars picking up passengers outside the Richmond International terminal was a busload of her friends and relatives. When Pagnoni, wearing her Army uniform, a black beret, and lugging her pack, appeared on the curb, the group of about 30 people--all wearing "We missed you, Tanya!" T-shirts--cheered and held up a banner welcoming her home. As she approached the bus shortly before midnight, all she could manage to say was, "What the ?" Then she smiled a broad smile, hugged her mom, and, one by one, embraced others who stood shivering in the cold. A few minutes later, she exclaimed, "I think it's amazing to have my friends and family supporting me." "I'm really proud of her," Pagnoni, a divorced mom who lives in Lake Wilderness, said of her only child. "Nowadays it's tough enough to get young people to join the military, much less in wartime. She wanted to serve her country." Her dad, Vincent, who served in the Marines and now lives in the Richmond area, flew in with her after visiting his daughter for a few days at Fort Huachuca, Ariz. It wasn't the kind of homecoming most soldiers get, and that's what Rose Pagnoni wanted--something special, something her daughter would always remember. She had plenty of help. About two hours earlier, the passengers on the bus gathered at the Gordon Road commuter lot. John Harris, a family friend, truck driver and part-time bus driver, volunteered his time, securing the bus at a big discount from L.W. Transportation. Many of those on the trip were staff and customers from Big Daddy Leather in Fredericksburg, where Tanya worked before joining the Army. Customers chipped in toward expenses for the journey to Richmond. "She was like everybody's daughter," said Harris, who rides a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and met Tanya at the shop on Princess Anne Street. He said he wasn't surprised that many people would come out late on a Sunday night.
I just wish every servicemember got that kind of welcome!
for Serving Pfc. Tanya Pagnoni
(Get some sleep ;) )
SFC (Ret)
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