Petty Officer 1st Class Nathan Hardin, an independent duty corpsman serving with 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, reunites with his family after returning home Sept. 17, 2012, from a deployment to Afghanistan. Hardin, an Escondido, Calif., native, treated Marines at the battalion aid station, a medical component within 2nd Bn., 5th Marines’ Headquarters and Service Company. More than 1,100 Marines and sailors serving with the battalion returned from a seven-month deployment to northern Helmand province, Afghanistan - Petty Officer 1st Class Nathan Hardin, an independent duty corpsman serving with 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, reunites with his family after returning home Sept. 17, 2012, from a deployment to Afghanistan. Hardin, an Escondido, Calif., native, treated Marines at the battalion aid station, a medical component within 2nd Bn., 5th Marines’ Headquarters and Service Company. More than 1,100 Marines and sailors serving with the battalion returned from a seven-month deployment to northern Helmand province, Afghanistan