RI Soldier Josh Boccanfuso Comes Home on Leave
Tracey Minkin and Marques Coleman, Video
RI Soldier Josh Boccanfuso Comes Home on Leave
Barbara Boccanfuso got the call at 7am Thursday morning. After hearing days prior that her son, Joshua, GoLocalProv's soldier correspondent in Afghanistan, was heading home for his scheduled two-week leave, she'd endured customary radio silence while she waited for him to get stateside to let her know when he was flying in.
It was a long couple of days for this mother who'd watched her youngest son head off to service earlier in the year, and endured reports of friends lost, mortar fire dodged. She just wanted her boy back, even for these 15 days, and so when the silence broke Thursday, Barbara gathered her sister Dana and her children, plus her brother Steve and his wife, grabbed red, white and blue balloons, whipped up some posters, and headed to TF Green Airport.
The rest is the enduring family vision: the returning soldier, the relieved hugs, the tears and laughter. Here's the video. And come back tomorrow for more of Josh's images from Afghanistan.
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