He's back home and not forgotten
EVANS CITY — A local Marine returning home from Afghanistan was given an escort by the American Legion Riders on Friday.
Andrew McGlennen, 20, flew into Pittsburgh International Airport on Friday morning and was escorted by the American Legion Riders, a group of veterans who ride motorcycles alongside returning members of the military to welcome them home.
The convoy drove from the airport to Butler County and then through Cranberry, Zelienople and Evans City with assistance of local police and fire departments. Residents stood on the sidewalks in Evans City holding American flags as McGlennen and his family drove down Main Street concluding their ride at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 499 on North Washington Street.
McGlennen spent eight months in Afghanistan providing security at Camp leatherneck in the Helmand Province. He returned to Camp Lejeuene in North Carolina earlier in the week where he was reunited with his family, who told him about the American Legion Riders escort they had planned, he said.
“When I heard, I was blown away. It was real nice,” McGlennen said.
“There's a lot of people who don't support the military, so it's good to have the hometown support.”
McGlennen said he was just home for the weekend to visit family and friends before returning to North Carolina where he is stationed. He will be back soon though as he will be on leave in a few weeks. He enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school and is two years through his four-year enlistment.
Brad Orton, one of the organizers of the American Legion Riders, said the group has done 13 escorts of returning soldiers and one of the remains of a soldier since the group was formed two and a half years ago.
They will ride with any returning soldier who lives in Butler County and the group has been given special access at Pittsburgh International Airport and receives support from local police and fire departments, Orton said.
Though they are contacted by the families of soldiers to set up the rides, local people usually find out that they are coming through word of mouth, Orton said.
The ride is a good way to let the soldiers know that their service to the country is appreciated, co-founder of the Butler County riders Leroy Bunyon said.
“A lot of these guys are from the Vietnam era and nobody welcomed us home, so now we want to welcome home these guys in the next generation,” Bunyon said.
