Posted on 05/30/2011 8:39:43 PM PDT by darrellmaurina
JOPLIN, Mo. (May 27, 2011) — A year ago, the 203rd Engineer Battalion of the Missouri Army National Guard woke up every day in a war zone. That changed Sunday when one of the season’s deadliest tornados blew through this southwest Missouri community of 46,000, leaving behind a path of devastation worse than most of these combat engineers experienced in Afghanistan. Charged with clearing improvised explosive devices from hundreds of kilometers of bumpy, dusty — and dangerous — roads in the war-torn country’s restive east, members of the 203rd served their nation doing one of the hardest jobs in theater. Now they have stepped up to serve their state and community, a task made equally daunting by the sheer level of destruction left in the wake of a six-mile-long, half-mile wide swath of pure terror. Most of them say dealing with the tornado and its aftermath is by far much harder on them than eluding Taliban IEDs and rocket fire.
(Excerpt) Read more at pulaskicountydaily.com ...
My niece was in the National Guard and I think she enjoyed her service more then her brother in the regular Army. When they speak of citizen soldiers the key word is citizen in all the best ways the word is defined.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.