BY JOHN CARSWELL – Daily Union Staff Writer
On Wednesday, Lance Corporal Evan Garlick, sister Rachel and his parents, Eric and Pat Garlick of Shelbyville, were part of a group reunion that took place on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Returning Marines of Company A, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion have been stationed in Iraq for the past seven months and were on their way home to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
Garlick, a Purple Heart recipient, was one of the 33 soldiers who were on the show. Over 100 friends and family were gathered back stage waiting for the cue to greet their soldier.
Representatives of the Oprah show arranged to have the long-awaited reunion take place on the show instead, and soldiers and parents were re-routed to Chicago where the Oprah show picked up the tab for airfare, hotel, food and other expenses.
Although not part of the center stage, the Garlicks were happily together again on the back row. During the broadcast, the Garlick family were visible several times and Evan was glad to see some of his comrades who had been sent home earlier due to injuries.
“That was a good experience,” said Garlick. “None of us were expecting to see them on the show. It was a complete surprise. Two of the guys were in my actual platoon.”
The emotional reunion between family, children, girlfriends and fellow soldiers highlighted the joyful return to American soil.
Evan Garlic said of the Oprah show, “It was a good experience. It was sort of what I thought it would be. We flew into Chicago the day before it was taped and we had a rehearsal and a day off to go walk around and see everything. I got to meet her (Oprah) and they took pictures of all the Marines and their families posing with her.”
Pat Garlick felt the same way, “It was an awesome experience. I will cherish it. It was so awesome seeing our son and all the Marines that served with him all these months in Iraq. It was one of the greatest experiences that I have ever had and now we and that’s the best thing in the world.”
Although the Oprah show was an experience to be remembered, Pat Garlick said their trip was not without difficulty. “We had a delay coming back from the Oprah show because of bad weather in Philadelphia. We waited 11 hours in the airport in Chicago before it took off for Philadelphia and then on to N.C. We didn’t arrive back at N.C. untill yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.”
But it seems they may not have to make the trip again, at least from a military standpoint.
Evan said his tours of duty in Iraq were over. “My contract said I would go for two tours. I have only nine months left with the Marines so that is it for me.”
Due to the travel complications, Evan said his parents will be staying at Camp Lejeune through the Easter weekend and returning to Shelbyville sometime next week. However, Evan has to stick around for a while.
“I have to wait until April 20 before I can take vacation. We have to go through a little readjustment period before we can leave,” he said.
Evan said the request from the Oprah show came while they were still overseas. “We were in Kuwait when the show called asking for 50 men to be on the show. All of us who went on the show were volunteers. We wanted to do it.”