VIDEO & SLIDESHOW: Parade welcomes home returning soldier

Every time Diane Eenigenburg heard about American troops being killed in Afghanistan, she would be terrified her son was one of the casualties.

“It wasn’t until he called and said his unit landed in Wisconsin that I felt a sense of relief,” she said.

Her son, U.S. Army Specialist Christopher Rudenga, 24, returned home to Westmont Friday, Aug. 14, after a nine-month deployment in Afghanistan.

Rudenga’s unit returned to its home base in Aurora earlier in the day, and he was escorted to La Petite Sweet cafe in downtown Westmont by Westmont Police and Fire department vehicles and the Warrior’s Watch motorcycle group.

Eenigenburg is the owner of La Petite Sweet, 31 N. Cass Ave., and a reception was held there to welcome Rudenga home that afternoon. The soldier was greeted by numerous friends, family and members of the community.

“I wasn’t expecting this kind of welcome,” Rudenga said. “I thought I would just get off the bus and go home.”

He is a member of the Illinois National Guard Unit Charlie Troop 2nd Squadron 103rd Calvary, based in Aurora.

During deployment, Rudenga was a member of a Special Forces team called Project Phoenix, which has been active in fighting the Taliban, and in training Afghan police, Eenigenburg said.

“We are very proud of him,” she said.

While the war in Afghanistan has escalated during the past few months, and the news hits of more American troops being killed or wounded there, Rudenga said his unit was pretty lucky.
“We only had one guy from my company injured,” he said. “But he’s back home now.”

His stepfather, Robert Eenigenburg, said Rudenga’s mother has been on “pins and needles” the last few weeks since the war escalated and has had many sleepless nights.

“Chris would be on the phone with us, and suddenly we’d hear the sound of a mortal shell landing or an explosion, and the line would just go dead,” he said. “It was very scary at times.”

Rudenga was deployed last August, where he first went to Fort Riley in Kansas and Fort Bragg in North Carolina before leaving for Afghanistan last fall. Since then,  Diane Eenigenburg have kept the blue star service flag in the window of La Petite Sweet, and indication her son was serving overseas.

Now that Rudenga has returned, Diane Eenigenburg said she can breath a sign of relief.

“I’m glad he’s home. I think he’ll probably get deployed one more time before his tour is done,” she said. “But this is where he is supposed to be this time in his life.”

Rudenga celebrated his 24th birthday while he was deployed last month. He is the second local soldier to return home from Afghanistan this summer. Sgt. First Class John Jonak, a member of the Illinois National Guard based in Sycamore, was also welcomed home to a parade and a reception last June in Ty Warner Park.