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For Immediate Release:
HGR Provides Guardswoman a Proper Homecoming from Afghanistan
Contact:
Director of Public Relations& Community Affairs Sarah J. Lankford240-313-2215lankford@washco-md.net
Public Information Officer Norman Bassett240-313-2077V/TDDbassett@washco-md.net
(Hagerstown, MD — August 26, 2011) Emily Seidel's family gave her a proper homecoming from her tour of duty in Afghanistan. Several of her friends and family members were there to welcome her and celebrate her arrival — a homecoming that would be more difficult to have in a larger International airport.
The group that welcomed Seidel home sent cards and letters of support to her while on duty. Seide's mother, Marcie Tinninis, feels they would not have traveled to a larger airport for her homecoming due to proximity, time, and traffic. Tinninis was touched to have the group see Seidel step off the plane, less than five miles from her home.
Since her tour began, she has utilized the Cape Air service at HGR to access Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) on her flights to and from Afghanistan. “The staff members at the airport were so personal and friendly each time Emily was there,” said Tinninis. “I remember last year being so distraught after her deployment. The HGR staff was so comforting to me.”
Seidel graduated from California University of Pennsylvania with a degree in geography and attained her certificate to teach secondary social studies from Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pa. She taught at Fairfield High School for one year. Inspired by her late cousin, Lieutenant Robert Seidel III, of Gettysburg, Pa., an Army Ranger who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2006, she joined the Army National Guard in 2009. In November 2010, she was deployed to Afghanistan and served as an Intelligence Specialist at Bagram Airfield with the 234th Infantry Brigade.
While in Afghanistan, not only did she fulfill her duties at Bagram Airfield, but also volunteered to teach English to patients at a local women and children’s hospital. With the help of Tinninis, a paraprofessional at Greencastle Middle School, Seidel also organized clothing and school supply donations collected by students in her mother’s classroom. While home on leave in January, she volunteered to teach about her experience in Afghanistan to Greencastle Middle School students.
Seidel’s future plans are to return to Millersville University to attain a graduate degree in Special Education, and attend training to be a Commissioned Officer in the National Guard.
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