Sons in arms

Paul Johnson still cries when he remembers the sight of his three uniformed sons walking side by side as they emerged from an airplane and stepped onto Utah ground.

"I've never seen something look so good to me in all my life than when those three boys came off that plane together," Paul Johnson says through teary eyes.

His emotion is understandable considering Paul and his wife, Marilyn, have watched four of their seven sons and a son-in-law be carried away by similar planes to battlegrounds in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After 15 months of service in Iraq as combat engineers for the Utah National Guard, three of the Johnson sons returned to their family home in Holladay in May, just missing their younger brother who was headed to Afghanistan for a year and their sister's husband who was serving in southern Iraq.

For Marilyn Johnson, it seems like she'll never have all her family in one room at the same time again. But last week, she got close.

With three sons home and son-in-law Doug Kinsman home on a two-week leave, the Johnson family was able to reunite after many months and miles apart. Chris, 23, is the youngest Johnson still on duty as a sergeant in the Air National Guard in Afghanistan. But his wife, Darci, whom he married in March during a two-week leave, is home with the Johnson family.

"The hardest part is just not having him. It's just the memories of him being here; it's just the waiting," Darci Johnson said. "I'm kind of the last of the wives to have my husband gone."

But Darci Johnson, 22, gets plenty of support from a group of wives who know too well the loneliness and anxiety of waiting. Sons Caleb, 30; Bill, 28; and Nick, 26, all served together in the 1457th Battalion Unit and had to tell their wives several times that their stay was being extended. A six-month tour of duty just west of Baghdad turned into 15 months away from home.

"It seemed like it was never going to end," said Bill's wife, Danielle, who has two daughters. "It was hard, but you just have to do it. You just have to get up every morning and not sulk. I had to do it for my girls."

But Bill Johnson did finally come home May 2 with his two brothers beside him as family and friends jammed the airport. For him, his military experience can be summed up in two definitive moments.

"The worst experience was getting on that bus in Tooele without knowing where we were going and when we were coming home. The best moment was when we landed in that airplane in May and knew we didn't have to go back," he said.

The three Johnson boys worked together during their sojourn in Iraq rebuilding bridges, canvassing roads for land mines and disposing of explosives. At home, Marilyn Johnson stayed glued to the news, preoccupied with world events.