St. Raphael Welcomes Home a Soldier and Father

Students from in Rockville lined the school’s driveway on Monday morning, waving American flags and welcoming home Lt. Cmdr. Jaime Salazar.

Salazar, of Bethesda, returned last weekend from an eight-month-long deployment in Afghanistan. It was his third deployment in the past three-and-a-half years. He also served in Kuwait and in Haiti, as part of the medical mission following the 2010 earthquake.

Salazar is based at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Students and teachers tied yellow ribbons to trees lining Dunster Road and around the school. Students, parents and teachers cheered and sang “God Bless America” as Salazar and his wife Laura, with son Christian, 2, arrived to pick up daughter Julia, 4, from preschool.

The welcome was unexpected, Salazar said.

“I wasn’t expected anything, actually,” he said. “I was expecting maybe Julia’s class, but I didn’t expect the whole school.”

The welcome he has received on previous deployments has been “inconsistent,” especially from civilians, he said. “But I think the support’s still there.”

A Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Maine gave soldiers, including Salazar, a big welcome upon their return stateside, he said.

The post has welcomed home several thousand flights of soldiers and working dogs, Salazar said.

“So this is very nice,” he said of Monday’s welcome. “This is very consistent with that.”

St. Raphael School and the church have been “very warm and welcoming. And we appreciate that,” Salazar said.

His message to civilians regarding military members: “Just don’t forget about us. And you guys are doing a good job. This is a nice example.”

Kathryn Schroder, of Potomac, helped organize the homecoming celebration. Her husband, Cmdr. David Schroder, an orthopedic surgeon based at National Military Medical Center, returned from Afghanistan in March to a similar homecoming from St. Raphael students and staff.

The Schroder’s three children attend the school. Parents in daughter Allie’s second-grade class organized the homecoming celebration for Schroder.

The school wanted to do the same for Salazar to acknowledge his family’s sacrifice, Kathryn Schroder said.

“When people recognize your service that makes it all worthwhile,” she said.

Click here for TBD’s coverage of the homecoming celebration.