Welcome home and Happy Holidays. That is what area school
children and local businesses will be saying to the soldiers of
Charlie Company, 1/112th Infantry Brigade, 56th Stryker Group upon
their arrival around 10 a.m. today at the Bradford Armory.
Although their visit will be brief – the Pennsylvania National
Guard soldiers will be on leave for only 10 days – the community
wants them to enjoy their time home. When the bus rolls down Main
Street this morning, local shops will display a positive message:
that Bradford thanks them for their service, supports the
sacrifices they have made and that we, as a community, sincerely
wish them well.
Students from School Street Elementary School and St. Bernard
Elementary and Middle School made posters before going on holiday
break. These posters will be displayed in the windows of the
businesses along Main Street and downtown.
“I just thought it would be really nice to welcome home the
guys,” said Dawn McGriff on Sunday. She contacted both schools and
area merchants for their support.
The soldiers arrived this weekend in Fort Indiantown Gap from
Stryker and Warrior combat training at Camp Shelby, Miss. They have
been in training since September and are expected to deploy to Iraq
in January.
Two buses, owned by Fullington Bus Tours, were provided by local
groups to get the soldiers home, as the National Guard does not
provide this service.
One bus was funded by the combined efforts of VFW Post 212, the
Vets Club, Frances Sherman Auxiliary and the American Legion Post
108, all of Bradford. The second bus was funded by the Family
Readiness Group for Charlie Co., including donations from American
Refining Group of Bradford and the McKeirnan Bus Garage in
Smethport. One bus will take soldiers to Ridgway while the other
will bring returning troops home to Bradford.
Christmas cards, prepared by the students at St. Bernard School,
will be distributed to the soldiers as they step off the bus today
at the Armory on Barbour Street. The community is welcome to greet
the soldiers and wish them a safe and happy holiday season.
Later in the week, starting at 8 p.m. Saturday, the VFW Post 212
at 94 Barbour St., will host a Troop Support party.
DJ Marty will donate the music for the night and the community
is invited to attend. Valerie Meacham said it is her hope that the
public will come out and support the troops during this event.
“There will be music and other activities. All the money raised
during this party will go to sending care packages, since the buses
are already covered,” said Meacham.
Troops will depart from the Bradford Armory on Jan. 2 to go back
to Fort Indiantown Gap. The unit will report to Fort Dix, N.J.,
prior to its deployment to Iraq.
“The brigade is comprised of thousands of soldiers. It will
begin moving out on Jan. 10, but we still don’t know who is going
at that time. The date and details are not locked in yet,” said
Cory Angell of the public affairs office for the Pennsylvania
National Guard.
Angell said that elements of the brigade will deploy to Kuwait
for approximately three weeks before relieving a unit in Iraq. The
total mobilization is expected to last one year. It began in
September and Angell expects that troops will return from Iraq in
September of 2009.
