As 2010 began, fans of Ryan Conklin got the news that they had been waiting many months to hear, that Ryan was returning back from Iraq and finally ending his Army duty for good. Ryan had let fans know in the Fall of 2009 that his time in Iraq would be coming to a close by the end of the year. And sure enough, at Christmas Ryan wrote about packing up his stuff and getting ready to leave. He thought he might leave the region on New Year's Eve, but after spending some time camped out at the Baghdad airport, he only got as far as Kuwait by New Year's Day. There was more delay at Kuwait, but after a few days, Ryan left "over there", flew across the Atlantic, and landed in Savannah on January, 4th.
His destination was Fort Stewart, where he would spend several days being processed out of the Army. While there, he was able to accomplish a few of the things that he was determined to do as soon as he returned to America. He was able to drink beer, eat at Taco Bell, wear civilian clothes, go to a strip club, and get drunk enough that he couldn't remember a cab ride home.
On January 9th, the paperwork was done and Ryan Conklin was out of the Army. He could, as he put it, "shove this uniform into a cold dark place and never see it again."
After that it was back to home and family in Gettysburg and that's where Ryan headed to. He flew to the airport in Harrisburg, where his elated parents eagerly waited to give him the hugs and kisses they had longed to welcome him home with. Coincidentally, when he got to airport, he heard its music system playing the song, “Who Says You Can’t Go Home?” One things is clear, it wasn't said by the many fans who prayed so often for this joyous event to happen for the Conklin family.
