'A Hero's Welcome' for Local Marine Ryan Beyer

"Welcome home, Marine," said the members of Warriors' Watch as set foot on the lawn of his Skippack home Saturday afternoon for the first time since returning from his tour of duty in Afghanistan. Family, friends and neighbors who turned out with American flags and handmade signs for Beyer's homecoming clapped and cheered.

Beyer rode down Hudnut Lane in a Lincoln Navigator, surrounded by a motorcade of dozens of motorcycles from the Warriors' Watch, members of the and fire companies, the police department. Many of his greeters enveloped him in big hugs after he exited the SUV, and Beyer literally jumped into the arms of some of his loved ones.

Beyer remarked that being home again was "surreal." He said he would have 17 days in this area before he returns to Camp LeJeune in North Carolina.

"The word 'hero' I don't think applies so much to me," Beyer said in a speech to the crowd. "I have three of the greatest men I've ever met tatooed on my body," he said, referring to his military "brothers" who were killed in Afghanistan. "They gave it all; there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about them."

He said seeing people protest the funerals of dead soldiers can give him pause and make one wonder, 'What am I fighting for?'
However, the outpouring he saw that day cleared the "dark shadow" of any negativity.
"I love each and every one of you for it, and I would go back there 10 times over for each and every one of you."

Beyer's mother, Joan, was awed by her son's words, and said she "couldn't be more honored," by the day's events.

l teacher Jenny Cochran, , attended the homecoming along with Holdsworth's father, Bill.

“It’s wonderful to have him home, but it’s also sad for the ones who didn’t come back,” Cochran said. She noted that both Beyer and Holdsworth have made efforts to stay in touch with her students, which means the world to them.
"(That) “speaks volumes about them. They do represent us.”

Holdsworth said that 9/11 happened when his son and Beyer were 11 years old, and "it made an impact."
“It’s so fitting that anyone who serves the U.S. or serves overseas to have this kind of welcome," he said. "Ryan, like Billy, has made an agreement with this country to protect our freedom and our way of life, even if it means losing his life.”