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Navy man honored on his return home to Clute
Published November 23, 2009
CLUTE — Navy Petty Officer Third Class Douglas Wied plans to take his experience in the military as a traffic control operator and use it to work for the Federal Aviation Administration doing the same thing, he said.
“I was an air traffic controller and I also worked security for the base,” Wied said. “I was in New Orleans for four years, and it’s an amazing feeling to come home and to come back to where I’m from. I love it here and now that I’m back I don’t want to leave.”
Wied is a 2002 graduate of Brazosport Christian School and enlisted in the Navy in 2004 to do his part for his country, he said.
“It means everything to have him home,” his mother, Patty, said. “When he said he was going in, I made him promise he would go into the Navy because it was safer than the Marines or the Army.”
Members of the Brazoria County Cavalry welcomed Wied home with a motorcycle ride Sunday afternoon, surprising and humbling the 25-year-old man.
“I’m surprised and very grateful,” he said. “I’m very thankful my family would think of me to do something like this for me.”
Wied’s sister, Kelly Ferry, set up the motorcycle ride because she wanted to let her little brother know just how special he was to their family.
“I wanted not only to honor him, but those in my family who have served who didn’t get their welcome home from Vietnam and I wanted it to be a celebration for the whole family as well,” Ferry said.
“He did go through a lot in New Orleans, and he had his personal battles, and I wanted to let him know how much we truly appreciate it. I can tell him, but I wanted to show him.”
A new respect for his son and for other military men and women has given Douglas Wied’s father, Edwin, a whole new look at his
best friend.
“He’s my best friend; we get to go fishing and I’ve got a deep, profound respect for him,” Edwin Wied said. “It broke my heart when he left, but I’m glad he did because it was something he wanted to do and we had to let him go and do what he wanted to do. I respect all families who have sons and daughters in the military and I’m praying for all of them to return and I want to say thank-you to all of them.”
Erin McKeon is a reporter for The Facts. Contact her at 979-237-0152.
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