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Feb 21, 2008 10:02 pm US/Central
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Elk Grove Marine Gets Hero's Welcome Home
Return From Iraq Marred Only By Childhood Friend Steven Kazmierczak's Actions At NIU Last Week
ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. (CBS) ―
The Maday family is celebrating a homecoming in suburban Elk Grove Village Thursday night. Marine Sgt. Lee Bode just returned from Iraq.
But as CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports, his homecoming is also tinged with some sadness. It comes just one week after his old friend Steven Kazmierczak opened fire in a Northern Illinois University classroom.
The Maday house is decked out, and he received a hero's welcome along the way. The night's frigid weather didn't keep members of Illinois' Patriot Guard from giving Lee Bode a veteran's thank you.
The 27-year-old sergeant spent the last six months in Iraq, and arrived home to an appreciative welcome by those who served before him. It clearly humbled him.
"I wish I had something very important here to show. I don't think I deserve all this," Sgt. Bode said.
Bode's parents rented a bus for the family's trip back to Elk Grove Village, and were escorted all the way home by guard riders and police. It was clear they wanted to pull out all the stops for their son.
The only thing marring Bode's homecoming is knowledge that Kazmiercek, his friend since high school, killed five NIU students and then killed himself one week ago.
"He called him two hours before the shooting and left him a message, telling him he was coming home Thursday, anxious to see him. So, it was a shock to say the least," said Sgt. Bode's mother, Diane Maday.
His parents say Kazmierczak was a nice young man battling a mental illness. He even gave the Madays their cat.
But Thursday night, this family is putting behind that tragedy and focusing on the joy of having their son back home, safe and sound.
Sgt. Bode has three brothers and a sister. He said the first thing he wanted to do now that he is back home, is sleep.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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