injured Marine's wife recently gave birth to quintuplets

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0411170248nov17,1,1064414.story?coll=chi-news-hed

An emotional homecoming
An injured Marine whose wife recently gave birth to quintuplets is greeted with a new house and van--and a community's thanks
By James Kimberly, Tribune staff reporter
November 17, 2004

Six weeks removed from the battlefield in Iraq, where he was severely injured by a mortar blast four days before his wife gave birth to quintuplets, Marine Sgt. Joshua Horton rode a white stretch limousine into the paved driveway of a new six-bedroom, five-bathroom home Tuesday.

Accompanied by his wife, Taunacy, his two oldest children and a camera crew from A&E television, the Marine was greeted by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn on the front lawn of the Oswego house they will share with the four surviving infants.

"Semper Fi," Quinn called to him, sounding the traditional Marine cheer.

"HOO-rah!" the 28-year-old reservist responded on cue.

Across the street a gaggle of reporters and curious neighbors watched, kept at a respectful distance by Oswego police.

"I guess we'll have to wait until things calm down," Sue Durning told her 4-year-old daughter, Annie, who was eager to meet the new neighbors.

As night fell, about 200 people who worked on the house or who attend the Hortons' church gathered out front to serenade the family with Christmas carols.

The incredible journey from humble Aurora police officer and Marine reservist to celebrity soldier culminated with this scene Tuesday.

The home, furnished and decorated, was donated by Wheaton-based builder Wiseman-Hughes Enterprises. It came with a donated Ford 12-passenger van.

Quinn called the donations gifts from a grateful state and nation.

The Hortons did not speak to the news media that had been summoned to the scene earlier in the day by anonymous telephone calls. The footage shot by A&E will appear Dec. 17 in a home makeover show featuring the families of soldiers called "At Home With the Brave."

A representative of Wiseman-Hughes who spoke to the Hortons said they were overcome with emotion by the donations.

"I don't think `thank you' covers it, but that's what comes to mind," Joshua Horton reportedly said.

The Horton family grabbed the nation's attention because Horton heeded the call when his company was activated for service in Iraq even though his wife was pregnant with quintuplets. Friends said Horton was driven by a profound sense of honor, duty and service.

Horton was injured Oct. 7 by a mortar blast as he stood guard on a rooftop in Babil province, south of Baghdad.

On Oct. 11, Taunacy Horton, 28, delivered the quintuplets at just 26 weeks. The babies weighed between 1 pound, 9 ounces and 1 pound, 15 ounces.

On Oct. 30, as Joshua Horton recovered from the severe injuries to the right side of his body at the naval hospital in Bethesda, Md., one of the babies, Addyson Juanita, died. She is buried at a family plot in Idaho.

The remaining infants--girls Caitlynn and Coira and boys Portter and Lachlan--remain in the neonatal intensive care unit at Edward Hospital in Naperville.

"They are progressing well," said Dean Fisher, a bishop at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Oswego, which the Hortons attend.

The babies are expected to come home from the hospital early next year, Fisher said. The Hortons have two other children, Sean, 7, and Shaleigh, 5.

Joshua Horton also is making progress, Fisher said.

He wears a walking cast on his left foot, and pins are visible in some of his toes. Last week, he used a walker, but now he can walk on his own, Fisher said.

"His doctors continue to be amazed at how well he is doing," Fisher said.

The new house is almost three times the size of the family's old Oswego home.

Valued at more than $400,000, with an additional $50,000 worth of furnishings from Bay Furniture and Ethan Allen, the new house was professionally decorated and modified to meet the needs of a family with six children, four of them infants.

The kitchen has two refrigerators, two dishwashers and a double oven. The four-car garage has two freezers, and the laundry room features two sets of washers and dryers. The island in the kitchen was raised and expanded to accommodate four high chairs.

The house also includes a game room with video and educational games donated by Microsoft, wireless Internet access and portable computers, said Gail Payonk, director of marketing for Wiseman-Hughes.

In the back yard is a swing set, and the open field behind the house will one day be a park, Payonk said.

Ford Motor Co. donated a new Econoline van worth $35,000 with room for six car seats and six adults. The Hortons also received tens of thousands of dollars in donations and gifts and a pledge from Kimberly-Clark for 25,000 Huggies diapers.

"Everyone has been so generous that there's excess," Fisher said. "I truly believe the Hortons will share that excess with others."

The Hortons seemed overwhelmed by it all, said people who spoke with them. "We're just an ordinary family with extraordinary circumstances," Taunacy Horton told someone.