With lumps in their throats and tears rolling down some cheeks, families bid farewell Sunday to Fargo-based Army National Guard soldiers called to active duty to fight terrorism.
About 1,500 people packed the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Fargo to say goodbye to 250 soldiers who'll pull out of the Fargo center at 8 this morning.
The North Dakota Army National Guard's 142nd Engineer Combat Battalion may be headed to southwest Asia for a military buildup surrounding Iraq, and could serve for as long as a year. The battalion includes units in Oakes, Lisbon, Wahpeton, Mayville, Fargo and Camp Ripley near Little Falls, Minn. Convoys will leave Oakes, Wahpeton, Lisbon and Mayville on Tuesday.
In all, about 700 soldiers will head out this morning and the next in convoys of military equipment en route to Fort Carson, Colo. Deployment from there is uncertain, or at least not discussed with civilians.
Josh Erickson, a Portland, N.D., fourth-grader, guesses his dad is going to Turkey. Josh's father, Shawn Erickson, is a staff sergeant with the 142nd. Besides Josh, 10, Shawn Erickson leaves behind his wife, Nadine, 5-year-old Nathan and a job with Ecolab in Fargo.
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Josh said his dad may be away from home a whole year. "In the car, Dad talked to us about setting goals and completing goals," Josh said. Erickson told his sons that setting and achieving goals will help the time pass more quickly.
He also told the boys to be good and help their mother. But he didn't say not to fight with each other while he's gone, Josh said, "because we're unstoppable."
And so life will go on in the six communities from which the 142nd Battalion members hail. Siblings will squabble, bills will arrive in the mail and supper will be put on the table each evening.
All of these things will be missed by the soldiers called to duty, and they were keenly aware of it Sunday. The three-hour send-off event began with 90 minutes of milling about and lining up for ice cream and sandwiches. Apprehension over parting was palpable in the gymnasium.
Moms and dads, dressed in fatigues, held babies tightly in their arms; girlfriends sat on soldiers' laps; families posed for photo after photo and young couples held hands as they moved about the room.
Nadine Erickson said she and Shawn elected to take Nathan and Joshua out of school last week so they could focus on family time.
The 142nd is a general construction unit and will take with it 200 to 300 pieces of heavy equipment. The unit operates scrapers, bulldozers and rock crushers, among other things, and its members include carpenters, plumbers and electricians.
In 2000, Company B of the 142nd spent eight months in Kosovo.
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"Some of the hardest battles ahead will be what the spouses go through here at home on their own," said Capt. Joel Vickford, commander of the Fargo company. "We're going into the vast unknown. But we can take the fear and look at this as an opportunity. The other night, after we were called up, I thought, 'Why us?' But they did select us. We're going to go and do the best job we can do. I once had a coach tell me that attitude is the most important word in the English language, and I think that's true. I hope when we come home you'll be here again and you'll be able to look us in the eye and say 'Job well done.' "
Gov. John Hoeven and Congressman Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., attended sendoff salutes in Wahpeton and Fargo on Sunday.
"Men and women of the 142nd battalion, we are truly proud of you," Hoeven said. "Whether it's Saddam Hussein or al-Qaida or anyone else you deal with, you are ready and you will prevail. We want you to know that every citizen in North Dakota is with you. We are with you in mind, we are with you in spirit and we are with you in our hearts and prayers."
Pomeroy noted that patriotism and "love of country" are cherished values in North Dakota. "But not all of us would be willing to leave home to serve their country," Pomeroy said. "We care so much about the commitment you are showing. And all of the families -- the spouses and children -- are showing their commitment as well. They are putting themselves on the line as well."
North Dakota Adjutant General Col. Mike Haugen noted that deployment affects entire communities, including employers. "We were just down in Wahpeton to send off that company there," he told the Fargo crowd. "We're taking 47 people out of the Bobcat Co. in Gwinner. That's a pretty big commitment for a company. It's not just the 142nd that's being deployed. It's all of us."
A pair of chaplains closed the farewell ceremony with scripture readings and prayers in which they called on God for "peace through dialogue."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Deneen Gilmour at (701) 241-5538
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