Welcome home

SAUGUS – Selectman Steve Castinetti said he remembers well returning home from Vietnam with no one to welcome him, and that?s why the town of Saugus will never stop celebrating their troops.With the struggle overseas slowing to a dull roar, Castinetti said the welcome home ceremonies are few and far between, but important nevertheless.Thursday morning, town and state officials and many residents gathered in the Town Hall auditorium to honor Sgt. Joshua Pelletier of the Army Reserves and Specialist Lisa Meucci of the National Guard, who recently returned home from deployment overseas.?Today is an awesome day, to have two Saugus residents home safe and sound,” said Marine Corps Sgt. Andrew Biggio. He thanked the organization of Saugus Military Families for keeping the welcome-home tradition alive. “I?ve been deployed two different times from two different Massachusetts towns, and this ceremony didn?t exist,” Biggio said.Pelletier was home from a nine-month deployment to Kuwait, where he served as combat medic with the 3rd Medical Command. He graduated from Saugus High School in 2005 and went on to graduate with a degree in criminology from Suffolk University in 2009 before joining the Army Reserves as a stepping stone to become a state trooper. He is currently a candidate for the Massachusetts State Police Academy for a class beginning in December.?It?s great to be home and get back to reality,” he said.Meucci was unable to attend the ceremony because after returning home she was called to report with her unit to Fort Bliss in Texas. But her parents, Robert and Paulette Meucci, represented her at the event. Meucci has been gone for about a year working as an automated logistical specialist in Afghanistan. Paulette Meucci said her daughter surprised her when she came home by showing up at her workplace.?I was just so happy,” she said.At the ceremony, Pelletier and the Meuccis were given citations from the Board of Selectmen, State Representatives Donald Wong, R-Saugus, and Kathi-Anne Reinstein, D-Revere, and State Sen. Thomas McGee, and were thanked by town and veteran organizations.Saugus Military Families presented both with a gift bag filled with gifts from residents and town businesses, and the Saugus Garden Club president presented both families with a peace plant.One surprise for the families was a music video by local musician Kathleen Slowey. The video was a slideshow of photos featuring many deployed soldiers from Saugus, both with their parents at home and posing overseas.?It?s kind of overwhelming,” said Pelletier of the welcoming ceremony. “It means alot to me and it means alot to my family.”