A hero's welcome
LOREN BENOIT/Press Steven Casley, left, Peter Detar, middle, and Nate Bligh hold a “welcome home” hero sign for Army Sgt. 1st Class Brian Sharp next to Mike White Ford along U.S. 95. Sharp was shot multiple times in Afghanistan earlier this year, when he and his fellow Green Berets were ambushed. Sharp and his wife Amy have ties to Coeur d’Alene and Hayden.
Courtesy photo Army Sgt. 1st Class Brian Sharp spends time with his wife Amy and their daughter, Audrey. Sharp and his fellow Green Berets were on a joint mission in Afghanistan when they were ambushed by their own Afghan support team. Two soldiers were killed. Brian sustained multiple wounds. He has since been rehabbing and just recently regained the ability to walk. He returned to Coeur d’Alene on Friday.
Coeur d'Alene's Susan Manthey shows her support on Friday for Army Sgt. First Class Brian Sharp, who was injured during a gun battle in Afghanistan. Thousands of citizens lined U.S. 95 to welcome the soldier from Montana with North Idaho ties back. (BRIAN WALKER/Press)
A Coeur d'Alene Fire Department engine makes its way north on U.S. 95 as part of the escort for Sgt. First Class Brian Sharp. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Multiple electronic signs along U.S. 95, including this one at the Lancaster Market in Hayden, displayed support for Army Sgt. First Class Brian Sharp, who was injured in Afghanistan and has returned stateside. (BRIAN WALKER/Press)
By BRIAN WALKER
Staff Writer
COEUR d'ALENE — Tears streamed down Teresa Smith's face on Friday after watching hundreds of emergency vehicles and motorcycles escort injured Army Sgt. 1st Class Brian Sharp back.
Smith was among thousands of people who lined a soggy U.S. 95 with flags, signs, banners, patriotic colors and even a camel to support Sharp, who was shot multiple times earlier this year in Afghanistan. Sharp and his fellow Green Berets were ambushed by their own Afghan support team.
"He deserves all of this support," the Coeur d'Alene woman said at the intersection of U.S. 95 and Lancaster. "He and others have sacrificed so much. I wouldn't have missed being here to show my support. It's the least I could do."
Sharp is from Montana, but he and his wife, Amy, have family ties in Coeur d'Alene and Hayden.
Kootenai County Sheriff's Office Lt. Stu Miller met with the family after the hero's welcome.
"As you can imagine, they were pretty overwhelmed by the support they received," Miller said. "Sgt. Sharp will be putting together his thoughts in a thank you letter to the community at a later date. For now, he and his family expressed their heartfelt gratitude for the welcoming and support the community and first responders showed today."
Sharp almost died during the gun battle, according to Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Erik Hedlund, a relative of Sharp's. The soldier's pelvis was shattered. He was also shot in the abdomen.
After being stabilized, Sharp returned stateside and was in the hospital to celebrate his daughter Audrey's first birthday.
"Audrey learned to walk and Brian learned to walk again together," Hedlund said.
He recently regained the ability to walk in "a rather miraculous recovery," Hedlund said.
Two soldiers, Sgt. 1st Class Will Lindsay and Spc. Joseph Collette, were killed in the gun battle. During Sharp's recovery, two more Green Berets from Sharp's team, Master Sgt. Michael Riley and Sgt. James Johnson, were killed. In a more recent mission, Sgt. Major James "Ryan" Sartor was killed in battle. Sartor was Sharp's mentor, who saved his life multiple times and was close to Amy, Hedlund said.
"As you might imagine, my cousin Brian is struggling right now, not only from the physical pain but from the pain of not being there for his brothers as they gave the ultimate sacrifice in battle," Hedlund wrote in a statement. "He is coming to visit family in North Idaho now that he has recovered enough to travel."
The escort went from the state line on eastbound Interstate 90 to U.S. 95 in Coeur d'Alene and north to Lancaster Road in Hayden.
Coeur d'Alene's Susan Manthey waved two large flags while waiting for the escort.
"This is just a little thing that I can do to make somebody's day better," said Manthey, fighting back tears.
Manthey's son, Coeur d'Alene High junior Ryker Patterson, also held two large flags as passersby honked.
"I have a military family and I wanted to support (Sharp) when he came back," Patterson said. "It's tragic what happened over there."
Another spot where many well-wishers gathered was at Mike White Ford, where Nate Bligh, a cousin-in-law of Sharp's, is employed.
Haley Baggins, the company's director of culture, training and development, said Sharp and his family deserved the warm North Idaho welcome.
"We're so proud that he's come home," she said. "We wanted to show how thankful we are for his service."
The KCSO and other agencies were originally going to surprise Sharp with the patriotic return and requested that the media keep the escort under wraps until Friday. However, the support was so overwhelming and the word leaked to the point that the KCSO late Thursday afternoon said it was OK to let the escort's details rip to the general public.
"People were even starting to talk about the hero's welcome in the grocery store, which was phenomenal," Baggins said.