NOTE: Those Mankato Free Press readers coming from the readers' forum please see my update at the end of this post about why no elected higher than the local mayor had an official role in the hometown welcomes. [/note]
In Area voters not sure how to end war, the Rochester Post Bulletin picks up a version of Standing Against the War, but Unsure How to End It, today's New York Times article about local sentiment in Harmony, Minnesota.
The Post Bulletin covers yesterday's visit by House Veterans Affairs committee chair Bob Filner in Congressman pledges support for wounded vets. Good job of reporting on the need for care for America's newest veterans and those who served earlier.
Red Bull Homecomings
The Mankato Free Press has an incredible photo slide show of National Guard members returning from Iraq to New Ulm. Our favorite shot is the seventh picture in the show. Go see why. The New Ulm Journal also covered the hometown event in There's no place like home.
In Fairmont, the Sentinel reports that 95 soldiers came home in Bulk of Guard members return. The Worthington Daily Globe tells the tale in The boys are back in town. More great photos, including the one that accompanies Julie Buntjer's article Hanson surprises fellow troops. Andrew Hanson lost both his legs below the knee when his vehicle hit an IED in Iraq. Buntjer writes:
His fellow soldiers in the 1-125th STRIKE Battalion hadn’t been told of Hanson’s two-week release from Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. They hadn’t been told the 21-year-old from Luverne would lead them through the three-mile parade route toward the Fairmont National Guard Armory.
Fellow soldier Travis Halfmann, also of Luverne, was the first one to step off the bus to greet his friend.
“He was nothing but tears,” Hanson said. “As soon as I seen him, I couldn’t help it. I broke down in tears, too — it was really emotional.”
Why was Halfmann so emotional? A story in the Rock County Star Herald tells why:
Luverne's Victoria White was both tearful and joyful Tuesday anticipating her son's return home after serving nearly two years in Iraq.
"My emotions are all over the place," she said, dabbing her eyes.
Groups of National Guard soldiers from Luverne and Pipestone were scheduled to return home Tuesday and through the rest of the week.
White's son, Travis Halfmann, is expected home Sunday, and she said it can't happen soon enough. "I'm so grateful he's coming home," she said.
Halfmann, also the son of Kurt Halfmann, Luverne, is the soldier who was with Luverne's Andrew Hanson when their Humvee was struck by a roadside bomb on May 21.
Hanson lost both his legs in the explosion, and Halfmann is credited with dragging Hanson from the burning vehicle. . . .
On Saturday, troops returned home in St. Peter. Among that group, our special welcome home goes out to Jason Beranek, whose sister Jen (herself an Iraq War vet) was our student in the fall of 2006.
We owe a lot of our understanding of the needs of returning Iraq vets to the exhaustive research paper Sargeant Beranek wrote for the class, and the Beraneks' family experience is illustrative of the devotion of Guard families to community, country and comrades. Thank you, Jason and Jen! Thank you all!
Update: the Pipestone Star reports on another hometown welcome. The Waseca News on its heroes here.
Sunday, July 29, 2007: In the reader forums at the Mankato Free Press, constant anti-Walz troll GLer tried to used this post as evidence against his congressman. As "Mznpho [pronounced "Miss Info"], we responded:
Walz did greet the soldiers at Volk Field in Wisconsin, according to an article Representative John Kline has posted on his web site : "On Friday, Congressman Tim Walz and I were honored to welcome back members of the Minnesota National Guard from their 16-month deployment to Iraq. ..."
The sentence is alsoon the front page of Kline's home page, down in the lower left corner, though I've provided a direct link to Kline's full article.
Like Walz, none of the other Minnesota representatives are showing up at the greetings, nor is the Governor or Mary Pawlenty (who has done a great job helping families connect with local volunteers).
Pawlenty (and often the first lady) were at the departure ceremonies with Walz; the Governor also greeted the soldiers' planes at Volk Field.
For a good round-up of news about the returns, the best source of all is the Minnesota National Guard's own In the News page. Read through the articles and it's soon clear: the focus at the hometown welcomes are on the soldiers, and nobody else.
Why the airfield in Wisconsin for Kline and Walz rather than the hometown greetings?
My understanding is that the National Guard and family support groups decided that the hometown greeting are for family and friends, and no official role has been included for anyone other than the most local of officials, such as the town mayor. Apparently, this very local and personal greeting has been deemed as better for the soldiers and their families.
Later, there will be more ceremonies honoring those who have returned and the U. S. representatives, senators, governor and other will be proud to be there.
Really, those chastizing Walz for doing what Kline, Pawlenty and all the rest are doing--at the behest of the Guard--should do a bit more due diligence.
Mznpho [Miss Info] is a nickname former students gave us, because they thought we could accurately research information about anything, and those pesky college students love them their puns. It's Miss Information, not misinformation, and our students preferred the kewl southern spelling.
How can I find Jen Beranek's paper on the needs of returning vets?
Meantime, keep up the good work. It's getting harder and harder to find news now that the Strib is dying.
Posted by: LimaBN | July 25, 2007 at 05:27 AM