He's back!

With the shouts of “USA, USA, USA,” cheers and applause bristling through the night air, Columbia native Ben Zeamer and five of his United Army buddies, were welcomed home Friday night after spending the last 15 months in Afghanistan’s Kunar Province.
Zeamer and his Army buddies stepped off a Conestoga Tours bus Friday night around nine o’clock, after they were greeted at the Philadelphia International Airport after being greeted by more than 50 family members and friends. The surprise was arranged by Ben’s father and mother, Mark and Diane.
“It was very surprising,” Zeamer said after stepping off the bus.
Among those accompanying Zeamer back to Columbia were five members of the C Company, 2nd battalion, 503rd regiment, 173rd Army Airborne. They were among the survivors of a rough 15 months of battles with the Taliban.
“These are the guys I spent time with on the front line,” Zeamer said.
The 27-year-old from Columbia wears eight bracelets to remember those who didn’t survive.
Stationed in Vicenzo, Italy, the 503rd was deployed to the Kunar Province in May 2007 to establish a combat outpost. Over the next 15 months, the group had more than 105 battles with the Taliban. There were two big incidents with the enemy. One was on Nov. 9, 2007, American forces were approaching a native village when they were ambushed. Five members of Zeamer’s platoon were killed. Then in late July, a 30-man platoon was ordered to advance and establish a new outpost. They were attacked by more than 200 Taliban, with nine Americans killed and 15 wounded.
“It was pretty rough,” Zeamer said Friday.
After arriving back home for the first time in about two years, Zeamer and his buddies, were honored as a party and headed Saturday to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Bethesda, MD, to visit some of those wounded.
He plans to head back to Italy and possibly attend sniper school at Fort Benning in Georgia, but come home for the holidays. He does expect to go back to Afghanistan late next year.