More Oregon Guard Troops Return Home Tonight from Afghanistan

This deployment marked the largest wartime deployment of Oregon Army National Guardsmen since World War II when the 41st Infantry Division was mobilized for service.

Oregon Guard Specialist Angel Morrow of Salem, Oregon is a medic who spent most of her time at Caqmp Phoenix in Kabul. She is featured in a report that Tim King shot in Afghanistan last winter. Photo by: Tim King

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - More than 60 soldiers from the Oregon Army National Guard's 41st Brigade Combat Team are scheduled to return to Oregon tonight between 11:30 PM 12:30 AM.

Guard Spokesman Capt. Mike Braibish, says The contract flight will land at the Portland Air National Guard Base. The soldiers will then be transported to the Jackson Armory located at 6255 NE Cornfoot Road in Portland, Ore. where their families and friends are invited to await their arrival for the initial welcome home.

These soldiers were mobilized for training last year in February at Camp Shelby, Mississippi and deployed in June to Afghanistan with the primary mission of training the Afghan National Army. They later received the secondary mission of also training the Afghanistan Police Force. Afghanistan National Police: An Exercise in Survival (VIDEO)

While in the theater of operation they also performed many humanitarian type missions to include rebuilding schools, clinics and providing medical care to the citizens of Afghanistan and even helping to rebuild a Kabul Hospital in their spare time. Independence Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan Opens with Many Needs (VIDEO)

The last two links are just two of many stories from Afghanistan on Salem-News.com. The site's photo gallery Salem-News.com Afghanistan Photos also has 157 photos from the Oregon Guard deployment to Afghanistan. That number is growing with time as more of Tim's shots are added.

This deployment marked the largest wartime deployment of Oregon Army National Guardsmen since World War II when the 41st Infantry Division was mobilized for service.

There will be a formal welcome home ceremony at the Oregon National Guard's Anderson Readiness Center located at 3225 State Street SE in Salem at 1:00 PM the next day. Governor Theodore R. Kulongoski and Major General Raymond F. Rees, the Adjutant General, will welcome the soldiers home in a brief ceremony.

Following any processing that may need to be completed these men and women will begin a 90-day block leave prior to returning to duty as a member of the Oregon Army National Guard. OREGON HOMETOWNS: Aloha: Pfc John O'Keefe

Astoria:
Sgt. Jeffery D. Jeremiah

Beaverton: Spc. Joseph Mcnamara
Spc. Evan Topinka Camas Valley:
Sgt. David Myers

Central Point: Spc. Christopher J. Hewitt

Clackamas: Spc. Aaron Staples

Coos Bay: Spc. Fawn Mathis
Spc. Paul Scriven

Dayton: Spc. Jose Rangel

Eagle Point: Spc. Charles Jackson

Eugene: Spc. Paul Knickerbocker

Forest Grove: Spc. Daniel Jay Stevens

Gaston: Spc. Warren Moreno

Gladstone: Staff Sgt. James Braun

Hillsboro: Sgt. Colleen Koch
Spc. Aaron Lehman

Independence: Staff Sgt. Paul Fults

Keizer: Spc. Justin Voiss

Klamath Falls: Spc. Lee Tran

Lake Oswego: Spc. Douglas Ashby McMinnville: Spc. Joseph Loiselle
Spc. Daniel Mabry

Medford: Spc. Mathew Butler
Spc. Brian Heil
Spc. Shaun Hendry
Staff Sgt. Zachary Phillips
Spc. Christopher Schmidt Milwaukie: Pfc. Marcus Kim

Monmouth: Pfc. Anders Dreizsus

Mulino: Spc. Jordan Varmette

Newberg: Pfc. William Franklin
Spc. Paul Marciniuk
Spc. Russell Young

Portland: Spc. Josh Boehm
Spc. Carl Clark
Pfc. Brian Miller
Spc. David Pearson
Sgt. Derrick Preston
Spc. Timothy Schregardus

Roseburg: Spc. Marcus Smith
Spc. David Staeb (Both Marcus Smith and David Staeb appear in this report by Tim King: On Foot Patrol Around Camp Phoenix, Afghanistan (VIDEO))

Saint Helens: Spc. Jayson Hester

Salem: Pfc. Adam Contreras
Sgt 1st Class Scott Delapp
Spc. James Montgomery
Spc. Angel Morrow(Featured in this report by Tim King: Americans Bring Medical Help to Afghanistan Families (VIDEO))
Pfc. Joseph Munch

Silverton: Sgt. Brooke Welborn

Springfield: Sgt. Robert Evans

St Helens: Spc. Sean Ellis
Pfc. Mitchell Espinoza

Waldport: Spc. Jeffrey Wagner

Warren: Spc. Gregory Mannen WASHINGTON HOMETOWNS:

Bingen: Sgt. Mark Fuwell

Eatonville: Spc. Andrew Lukowski

Federal Way: Spc. Tyler Ross

Pasco:
Spc. Patrick Strand

Vancouver:
Spc. Joseph Tranchsel HOMETOWN UNKNOWN:
Kenneth Jackola
Maj. Timothy Williams

Salem-News.com's Tim King spent two months with these soldiers in Afghanistan last winter. There are many reports published in our special Dispatches from Afghanistan with Tim King