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New Sewickley greets hometown sailor with hero's welcome

First responders staged a hero's welcome in Beaver County for a Navy sailor back home from his first deployment, just in time for Christmas.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Bittenbender was not expecting anything like what he saw late Thursday night in his hometown.

The streets in New Sewickley were flooded with cars and fire trucks.

Bittenbender's parents tell us he was on the USS Princeton, an aircraft carrier based in San Diego. The ship spent the last six months on a mission in the Pacific.

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Bittenbender is a man of few words, but he was blown away by the support.

“I had a couple buddies meet me inside the airport,” he said. “I'm like, OK, just a normal day. Then I saw a whole gang of people outside. I'm like, OK, what's going on – and then I saw all the lights.”

The group Red Blooded Americans Supporting Our Heroes escorted Bittenbender from the airport to New Sewickley.

“I'm a disabled combat veteran,” said Ryan States, a member of the group. “We're just local family members, local family,. just wanting to show our local support to our town, our veterans.”

The community greeted Bittenbender at the Big Knob Fire Department.

Everyone was excited, but none more so then Bittenbender's parents, who say they are extremely proud of their son and happy to have him back safe and sound.