VIDEO: Mayor, Police Chief Welcome Soldier Home

Gloucester Township Police Officer Lisa Hatcher received a hero's welcome during Monday night's Township Council meeting.

Hatcher, a staff sergeant with the New Jersey National Guard's 119th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, returned to the United States in December following a year-long deployment that saw her serve in Afghanistan, Qatar and Kyrgyzstan.

"On behalf of the 70,000 residents of Gloucester Township, we welcome you back and thank you so very, very much for your service, not only in our armed forces but also here in our community," Mayor David Mayer said.

Hatcher presented the Gloucester Township Police Department with a United States flag flown during a combat mission in Afghanistan.

It was about 16 months ago that Police Chief W. Harry Earle and other police brass presented Hatcher with two departmental flags—a large one she hung in her barracks and a small one she taped to the inside of her ballistics vest—during a Council meeting.

"We are so thankful that Officer Hatcher returned safe. ... She represented the Gloucester Township Police Department, and then when she returned she gave something back to us," Earle said as he and Deputy Chief David Harkins prepared to unveil the US flag Hatcher brought back from Afghanistan.