 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Battery C returns home Melodie Phelps News Editor C Battery's deployment officially ended Saturday morning, when family and friends greeted members of the local National Guard unit at Louisville's International Airport. The soldiers arrived at about 10 a.m., officially ending a 14-month deployment, including nearly a year in Iraq. A welcome home ceremony was held at the Air Guard Base in Louisville, and then the 180 men of Battery B, 1st Battalion 623rd Field Artillery headed back home. National Guard units from Monticello and Campbellsville were combined during the deployment as Battery B. They provided security and convoy escorts for the Army and were based at Camp Anaconda near Baghdad. Two soldiers with the Campbellsville unit were killed during the tour of duty. Sgt. Jonathan Adam Hughes, 21, of Lebanon, was killed on March 19, when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device during an escort patrol for a convoy near Baghdad. Sgt. Ryan Montgomery, 22, of Greensburg, died July 3 as the result of injuries sustained by an improvised explosive device while on duty near the Iraqi city of Balad. When the soldiers got off the plane on Saturday morning they were wearing buttons in memory of Hughes and Montgomery. C Battery was officially mobilized in November 2004. They flew to Iraq in late January 2005, where they had been serving until January 12, when they were flown to Kuwait. From Kuwait the unit flew to Ft. Dix, where they spent several days before heading back to Kentucky. While family and friends awaited the plane's arrival in Louisville Saturday, the community was preparing for the return of the local soldiers. Signs and banners lined the main roads into Wayne County. Businesses along KY 90 and Main Street displayed "welcome home" messages and yellow ribbons. Everyone who decorated for this event is asked to please leave signs, banners and ribbons up until after the homecoming parade which is planned for Sunday, February 5. The parade, which will begin at 2 p.m., will travel from Hardwood Drive to the Wayne County High School gymnasium, where an assembly, organized by the Family Support Group, will take place at approximately 3:30 p.m. This assembly is open to the public and everyone is invited to attend. Later that evening, the soldiers and their families will enjoy a catered dinner at the National Guard Armory and then they will watch the Super Bowl together on a large screen television. The Wayne County Outlook would like to take this opportunity to say thanks to all the soldiers and their families. Your sacrifice is appreciated and we are so glad to have you all home again. Add a comment |
|
|
@ 2005 The Wayne County Outlook For more information, see our online Privacy Policy. |