The governor was on hand with other notables to pay tribute to the Tampa Bay area's 900-plus reservists.
By JAY CRIDLIN
Published May 16, 2004
TAMPA - The kudos, like the refreshments, flowed freely to the hundreds of military reservists who packed Channelside Saturday morning.
"Welcome home!" chirped Mayor Pam Iorio.
"You are the greatest," said Congressman C.W. Bill Young.
"We love you," said former City Council member Bob Buckhorn, reading a letter from Sen. Bill Nelson.
Those notables, as well as Gov. Jeb Bush and a host of military officials, paid tribute to the Tampa Bay area's 900-plus reservists from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marines and National Guard with a family celebration at Channelside.
Some of the reservists had recently returned from the Middle East. Some have yet to leave Florida. But all were impressed by the party.
"I got to meet the governor," said Army Pfc. Mike Santiago, 42, clutching a drink and a balloon-animal hat. "I didn't even know the mayor was going to be here."
Bush tried to shake as many hands as possible before leaving to deliver a commencement address at Brevard Community College.
"We're so grateful for what you've done," Bush told the troops. "Thank you for fighting the war against terror in far-off places so we don't have to fight it here."
Before he left, Bush told reporters that the recent prison abuse scandal in Iraq shouldn't diminish what other soldiers had accomplished.
"I don't know how many times we have to see these pictures, to be honest with you," he said. "Four or five reservists did something that was horrific - nothing compared to beheading somebody, though, nothing compared to that - yet we see these pictures over and over again, and I do think that people are tired of it."
Saturday, most reservists' minds were on their families. Air Force Staff Sgt. Steve Wilburn, who is being promoted to a tech sergeant today, said he was just glad to be there instead of Afghanistan.
"For them to do something like this was pretty nice," said Wilburn, 29. "It's nice that they recognize the military and support us."
