Firefighters, community welcome Mahanoy Plane airman home
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Joseph Recla faces a crowd of gathered firefighters, welcoming him home from Qatar on August 17, 2020.
MAHANOY PLANE – After a four month delay due to COVID-19, an airman received a special welcome home Monday night at his home in this section of Gilberton.
Fire apparatus from the two fire companies in the borough, as well as Girardville, Mahanoy City, and Frackville, lined State Route 4030 outside Rick’s Refrigeration, the home of the Recla family, around 9:30pm.
Senior Airman Joseph Recla, accompanied by mom Kathy, dad Rick, and brother Ian, arrived around 10:00pm, a moment broadcasted live on our Facebook page.
Joseph, returning from a deployment to Qatar in Western Asia, thought his house was aflame until Ian said “Welcome Home.”
“This is just way too much for little old me,” Joseph told the Sentinel after thanking the firefighters and community members who came out.
“It shows that there’s a good heart here in northern Schuylkill County.”
Girardville Mayor Michael Zangari
Joseph was supposed to come home in April, though, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, he didn’t return to the United States until July. Following a quarantine period, he was able to return to his Mahanoy Plane home.
The Reclas are members of the Rangers Hose Co. of Girardville. Fellow member and childhood friend of Joseph’s, Michael Zangari, also mayor of the neighboring borough, organized the homecoming.
“You’ve got everything else negative in the world, and, whether or not he’ll admit it, he still had to go overseas and provided a crucial service to keep us living in the free world, and that should absolutely be recognized,” Zangari said, when asked why the homecoming was important. “Second of all, we just wanted him to know we absolutely support him and what he’s doing. We’re just very happy to have him back home.”
“It shows that there’s a good heart here in northern Schuylkill County,” Zangari added, speaking of the turnout.
Asked what he would do first, now that he’s home, Joseph kept it simple.
“Probably take a nap, to be honest. I’ve been up since 4 o’clock this morning,” Joseph told the Sentinel.
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