LITH Marine Gets Surprise Welcome Home

Roland LeBlanc got a surprise welcome home Sunday.

LeBlanc, 26, is a decorated war hero and a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps. Home for the holidays, LeBlanc – a resident of Lake in the Hills and a 2002 graduate of Crystal Lake South High School – said he thought something was up when his mother, Janet, told him to wear his uniform on the plane ride home. 

"That's something she never asked me to do before," LeBlanc said.

David LeBlanc picked up his son from O'Hare Airport. His mom and sisters, Katelyn and Nicole, had come along.

They pulled into the Des Plaines Oasis, a rest stop on U.S. Interstate 90.  

David LeBlanc told his son he wanted to grab a burger. Instead they were met by a contingent from the organization Warriors' Watch, a group with a motto to treat every veteran returning from war "like a rock star."

Warriors' Watch had about a dozen vehicles decorated with flashing lights and American flags.

They headed home, westbound on I-90, and when they got off the highway the procession was joined by fire trucks and police officers from Elgin and Lake in the Hills.

Horns and sirens woke the sleepy neighborhood on Starwood Pass in Lake in the Hills, where LeBlanc grew up.

In his younger days, LeBlanc was a hockey player who aspired to make it to the National Hockey League. Instead, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. He was hit by a bullet in the shoulder in Afghanistan, awarded the Purple Heart and medals for valor.  

Over the Thanksgiving holiday LeBlanc spoke with President Barack Obama, who offered LeBlanc words of support.

At home he was greeted by Kilo, his pet American bulldog.

He is stationed at Camp Pendleton where he will attend dive school.