After a 60-day deployment to the deserts of Arizona, members of the Maryland National Guard said it was good to be back on the shores of the Chesapeake.
“My wife always makes me homesick,” said 1st Lt. Brian Zdunowksi, 34, of East New Market, Md.
Zdunowski and about 100 other members of the Annapolis-based B-Troop 1-158th Cavalry landed Tuesday night at Warfield Air National Guard Base in Middle River, after assisting U.S. Customs and Border Patrol in Operation Jump Start, the administration?s effort to crack down on illegal immigrants.
Together, they reported 1,342 undocumented immigrants, made 759 arrests and seized 237 pounds of narcotics, said Maj. Charles Kohler, a spokesman for the Maryland National Guard.
“It was an outstanding mission. These guys were phenomenal,” said troop commander Capt. Brian Perez, 34.
Zdunowski said he was most surprised by the sheer volume of people trying to cross the border.
“It wasn?t quite what I expected,” he said. “Some of the stories were pretty sad.”
He recalled families who had traveled for days in the blistering heat, with only a gallon of water, and a pair of socks and shoes.
Zdunowski said he was also surprised at the number of infants people attempted to get into the country.
“They are just trying to get a better way of life ? you can?t blame them, but the law is the law and the mission is the mission,” Zdunowski said.
Sgt. Raushanah Lover, 24, was the only female on the mission. This was her second deployment ? the first was to Afghanistan.
She said she spent most of her time on tire duty, since she?d never changed a tire before in her life. Still, she said she “took this mission just as seriously” as her mission to Afghanistan.
“Every time I go on a mission, I feel like I am contributing,” she said.
