Guard troops coming home
by Mary Ann Menendez - Staff WriterThe day has arrived!
Members of the 1st Battalion, 194th Field Artillery Battery A of the Iowa National Guard are returning to Estherville on Friday, July 11.
The welcome home ceremony is tentatively scheduled to commence at 1:30 Friday at Hoyt-Luithly Field.
It was on Friday, July 21, 2007, when 75 local troops began the arduous journey to Kosovo. Amid shaky smiles and streaming tears at the send-off ceremony, nervous family and friends bid sad adieus to soldiers who knew what they had to go do.
The journey has come full circle and troops have been on American soil for several days.
They will return on Highway 169 and 18 west to Emmetsburg. The Iowa High Patrol, Palo Alto Sheriff's Department, Emmetsburg Police Department and Patriot Guard Riders will escort them.
Gene Haukoos, community liaison officer for the Estherville Area Chamber of Commerce, said at Graettinger, the Palo Alto contingent will be replaced by the Emmet County Sheriff's Department. "At our city limits, Estherville Police will join in as they travel north on South First Street to Central Avenue."
They will head east to 18th Street to the Readiness Center to unload. The troops, in formation, will march to the football.
In case of inclement weather, ceremonies will be conducted at the Readiness Center.
