Homecoming halfway point draws near

More than 1,200 Wisconsin National Guard soldiers were back in the state as of this morning with another planeload expected today and two more tomorrow, officials said.

While the number of soldiers on each plane hasn't been confirmed, a Guard press release estimates a total of 750 will come home on the next three flights into Volk Field.

That would bring the total to about three-fifths of the roughly 3,200 who were mobilized a year ago.

Guard officials hope to have all the soldiers back before the end of the month.

Units expected home today and tomorrow are from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry, Fond du Lac; soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry, Appleton and Clintonville; 829th Engineer Company, Chippewa Falls, Richland Center and Ashland; soldiers from the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 132nd Brigade Support Battalion, Portage; some members of Company A , 32nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, Onalaska; Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry, Appleton and Clintonville; Company B, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry, Green Bay; Company B (Support Maintenance), 257th Brigade Support Battalion, Kenosha; and some members of Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 105th Cavalry, Madison and Troop C, Reedsburg.

For a recap of the homecomings so far click here.

Family members have instructions on how to confirm estimated flight times. The homecomings are not open to the public.

More coverage of Fort Atkinson Marine Lance Cpl. Meinert

A Fort Atkinson Marine who was killed in Afghanistan on Sunday is being remembered as a quiet but funny young man who had a passion for jazz band in high school.

“He was a very funny, loving boy,” said Michael Edquist, the stepfather of Lance Cpl. Jacob Meinert, 20, who Edquist said died from injuries he suffered from the blast of an explosive device. “We’re not sure if he stepped on it or was standing close to it. They couldn’t tell us.”

Maj. Alan Crouch, public affairs officer at the Hawaii base where Meinert was stationed, said he couldn’t confirm the specifics of Meinert’s death.

Read the Wisconsin State Journal story by Samara Kalk Derby here.

Above is the last photo that Jacob Meinert took of himself in December before leaving Hawaii for deployment in Afghanistan. He sent the digital camera with this photo to his brother in Fort Atkinson.

Next stage of Wisconsin Guard deployment is that first year back home

Veterans coming back from long overseas tours must cope with changes they’ve undergone in dangerous, foreign environments, and in the way life at home has changed as well.
Read the Wisconsin State Journal story here.

500 more Wisconsin National Guard back from Iraq soon

Another big chunk of the biggest operational deployment of Wisconsin National Guard troops since World War II will be coming back home on Wednesday.

About 500 of the more than 3,000 soldiers in the Wisconsin Army National Guard's 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team will be returning to Wisconsin on Wednesday after spending the past eight months in Iraq.

Two flights are expected to arrive at Volk Field near Fort McCoy on Wednesday, said Lt. Col. Jackie Guthrie of the Guard's public affairs office in a news release.

For a story in The Capital Times click here.

For La Crosse Tribune coverage of the homecoming for 290 Wisconsin National Guard soldiers Monday click here.

For Wisconsin State Journal coverage of the first wave of 115 returning Wisconsin Guard soldiers on Tuesday, Jan. 5, click here.

For video from The Capital Times click here.

Fort Atkinson recalls fallen Marine as good, quiet kid

Lance Cpl. Jacob A. Meinert was killed when he stepped on a landmine while serving with the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan, a family member said.
For Wisconsin State Journal coverage click here.
For Racine Journal-Times coverage click here.

They're back

The first wave of Wisconsin National Guard soldiers is scheduled to return home Tuesday after a yearlong deployment that included seven months in Iraq, officials announced this afternoon. The 3,200 soldiers made up the largest operational deployment of the Wisconsin Guard since World War II.

Click here for continuing coverage from the Wisconsin State Journal.

Holiday greetings to Wisconsin from Baghdad

Members of the Wisconsin National Guard Joint Area Support Group - Central in at Forward Operating Base Prosperity in Baghdad sent home this holiday greeting, recorded and transmitted by the National Guard Public Affairs Office.