Members of the National Guard 153rd Engineering Battalion of Wagner held a 20-year reunion since their deployment to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom II. Organizers of the reunion were David Woods, Todd Link, Jason Kuhlman, and Greg Neilson. When asked what made the four want to organize the reunion event, they said that they will always have a bond with their fellow soldiers that they went over to Iraq with and want to try to keep in touch with everyone as much as possible.

The organizers of the event had high hopes for a good turnout. Of the over 100 men and women who originally were deployed, 44 were able to attend this year’s reunion along with 40 family members. They know that not everyone will always be able to attend and they were very happy with the turnout. The only items that were planned for the evening were a picture of the Veterans able to attend and a meal for everyone that was catered by Buche's. The organizers wanted the night to be about fellowship and give everyone time to catch up with one another.

To defray the cost of the event, David, Todd, Jason, and Greg asked several Wagner businesses for donations. Apparel WorX paid for the rental of the Armory for the event as well as donated formed other duties including guard duty and helping to build camps/bases. They never had a set job to do; their missions and duties changed day to day and they did whatever was needed of them.

The Alpha Company was deployed for one year. They flew into Kuwait, where they spent a couple of weeks preparing before convoying into Iraq. The first base the unit was located at was on the Euphrates River. From there, they moved to an old Iraqi Air Force base outside of Najaf. After a couple of months, they moved back to the original base. As they were stationed throughout these different bases, they were also clearing IEDs. When they moved to the last camp, the unit’s main duties included building roads and a lot of guard tower duty.

Everyone in attendance at the anniversary event had a great time. The biggest take away is that they need to get together more often. The goal of the event was to give everyone a chance to see one another, which is exactly what was achieved. When asked what this anniversary meant to the four organizers, they said that it meant a lot to not just them, but to everyone that served and was deployed with them. Being deployed to a combat area was a life changing experience. When they were deployed, they all rallied together in order to get through the experience and have continued to be around for one another. The same can be said of the family members of the deployed. They had it just as tough as those deployed did being alone and worried about their soldiers every day. Many of the soldiers that were deployed were in their early 20s. Asking the organizers who all were deployed in their early 20s what it felt like being deployed at such a young age and how it affected or changed them when they returned, they said returning from deployment is always hard. The best takeaway was probably the appreciation that they had for every day. Being deployed gave new meaning to the saying “it could be worse.'

Thank you to David, Todd, Jason and Greg for sharing their experiences and thoughts on the event. Thank you to all of the men and women who were deployed with the National Guard 153rd Engineer Battalion in Iraq for their service and dedication to our country. We as a community and the surrounding areas could not be more proud of our Veterans.