Chattanooga Gives Rousing Welcome To Mike Battery Large Crowd Cheers Marines Back From Iraq posted March 21, 2005 Chattanooga gave a rousing welcome to the marines of Mike Battery on Monday afternoon. The Marines, arriving from Fallujah, Iraq after a seven month tour of duty, landed at the Chattanooga Airport ahead of schedule. They were greeted along the route on Highway 153 and Amnicola Highway by supporters waving flags and holding signs. There was a large crowd at the First Tennessee Pavilion who began screaming and cheers as their convoy was sighted around 3 p.m. Family groups anxiously awaited their loved ones, who had been involved in some of the heaviest fighting in Fallujah last November. One family member said the unit was spared a single casualty. They arrived on a bus wearing combat fatigues and marched in briskly as wives, children, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters cheered and wept. They were led in by a band of bagpipers from the Alhambra Shrine. The Marines stood motionless in perfect formation during a brief ceremony. Family members moved up quickly to within a few yards of their heroes. Finally, there was an order barked that the 145 Marines were "dismissed." There was a rush to jubilant family groups.