Following a year-long deployment in Iraq, the citizen soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 150th Armored Reconnaissance Squadron and the 230th Forward Support Squadron, are finally on their way home to Bluefield.
In fact, the local troops should be on American soil by now. They were scheduled to land at Fort Stewart in Georgia over the weekend, and are due back in West Virginia sometime between Jan. 23 and Jan. 26.
Members of the local 150th’s Family Readiness Support Group received word over the weekend that the Bluefield-based soldiers had left the ground in Kuwait, and were on their way home to Fort Stewart. As a result, the 150th’s Family Readiness Group is already making preparations to place signs and ribbons in the area to help welcome the troops home.
Col. Derek Swope, West Virginia Army National Guard (Ret.), also learned over the weekend that the local troops are returning home. Swope, a circuit court judge serving Mercer County, proclaimed the local soldiers “did a good job” while stationed overseas.
We join Swope in saluting the local soldiers for a job well done.
It is our hope that citizens across Bluefield and Brushfork, and all Mercer County, will now join together in providing a proper homecoming for the local soldiers by displaying signs and ribbons at their homes and businesses.
With the return of the 150th Armored Reconnaissance Squadron and the 230th Forward Support Squadron, all of the region’s local soldiers are now back home in southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia.
Late last year, the citizen soldiers of the 1033 Engineer Support Company returned home to Tazewell County following a year-long deployment in Afghanistan. They were joined by another 38 soldiers from the 1033 Engineer Support Company, who also returned home to Tazewell County last year following a nine-month deployment in Iraq.
We join the Family Readiness Group in welcoming these brave men and women home. Their service to their country, and community, will not be forgotten.
While all of our local soldiers are now safely back home, it is important to remember that there are still thousands of other brave men and women from across our nation who are still stationed in dangerous locations across the globe.
We pray for their continued safe keeping.
Editorials
January 18, 2010
Homecoming — Troops return merits heroes’ welcome
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