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GREENSBORO — Friday night’s Shabbat service at Temple Emanuel rang with the usual peace greeting “Shabbat Shalom,” but members were also saying, “Welcome home, Darrell.”

The weekly service had a twist to it because the members were honoring their “hero and brother,” National Guard Sgt. First Class Darrell Bryant.
“It hit how much Temple Emanuel has cared and taken me in,” Bryant said after the service.

The 55-year-old aviation mechanic from High Point returned home Thursday after being stationed in Basrah, Iraq, since July.

“It’s such a blessing,” said Bryant’s wife, Samara. “I mean when the bus drove up yesterday, I realized I’d been holding my breath for a year. It was a huge sigh of relief.”

Samara Bryant and their four children worship at the temple, and she is a teacher in the religious school.

During Friday’s service, the family joined Rabbi Fred Guttman at the pulpit to recite remarks and a special prayer for military members written by the rabbi. Darrell Bryant became teary-eyed when he expressed his gratitude to God, saying “Thank you for watching over and protecting my beloved wife and children during my deployment.”

He left home in March 2009 for his initial assignment at Fort Hood, Texas. The last time he saw his family, including now 15-month-old daughter Johnnalee, was the weekend of July 4th.

His wife of three years worked full time as an insurance adjustor and managed the kids with the help of friends and church members while he was away.

“Any single parent does it every day; it’s just the stress of having him there not knowing what’s happening with him,” she said.

As a part of the 638th Support Battalion Detachment 1, Company B, Darrell Bryant’s  team was in charge of maintaining and loading ammunition onto helicopters.

He served similar missions when he deployed to Kuwait in 1998 and Afghanistan in 2003.

He joined the National Guard in 1989 after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1973 to 1978. He said this last mission was the toughest.

“It is hard, especially when you’ve got a toddler. You know you’re going to miss out on a lot of things and you’ve got to rebond with her.”

She mostly knew dad through the image on a computer screen.

Every weekend, the family would catch up using Skype, a program that allows users to make video calls over the Internet. He waved to the older kids and watched baby Johnnalee crawl on the floor and speak some of her first words.

“The first time she said, “Da da,” she was looking at me on the screen,” he said.

“I felt 10 feet tall and that I can do anything that I wanted to do.”

He said he cannot deploy for the next two years, unless he volunteers. “And my wife has already said that she’s not letting me.”

Although his military career takes him away from his loved ones, he is happy to fulfill a childhood dream.

“I like wearing the uniform. I liked knowing that I am serving my country and making a difference,” he said.

“I want to protect my family and my friends. That’s where it counts.”

Contact Dioni L. Wise at 373-7090 or dioni.wise@news-record.com