Local Guard unit returns from helping storm victims in St. Louis

~ Soldiers said they gained valuable experience but will be happy to take a break.

The 1140th Engineer Battalion rolled into Cape Girardeau Saturday morning after a week of deployment clearing debris and assisting power outage victims in St. Louis.

There wasn't much fanfare, no confetti, and not a tearful relative in sight when the 222 soldiers returned to the armory at 2626 Independence St. But then again, no one in this battalion, which has seen duty in Iraq and responded to the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina last fall, seemed to expect any attention.

"This is the normal annual training. So their families expected them to be gone until now. It's not really a big deal." said Spc. Mitchell Kester.

But the work they were able to accomplish during the training was big: 8,579 gallons of water distributed, 2,604 bags of ice, 4,940 meals, 868 loads of debris hauled, 361 city blocks covered, and four wards cleared.

Returning soldiers said they gained valuable experience but will be happy to kick their feet up for a bit.

"It was nice to do a real-world mission rather than training. And I'm originally from Festus, so it was really nice to be able to help out my hometown community," said Sgt. Josh Westrich, a senior at Southeast Missouri State University. "Now I'm looking forward to relaxing a little bit before school starts back up, see my girlfriend and eat some good food."

Others came away with a warm feeling from lending a helping hand.

"The people were really gracious and grateful to have us up there. Actually while we were working in the neighborhoods a lot of people brought water out to us just to show their appreciation, so that was nice," said Spc. Erin Morrison.

The 1140th handed off operations in St. Louis as well as most of the clearing equipment to the 203rd Engineer Battalion out of Joplin.

Lt. Col. Robert Jones said deployments like this one keep his men and women prepared to respond to natural disasters.

"This is really useful for us, especially our equipment operators," he said. "It's a real time, it's not just a get out there and move some dirt around and get used to the equipment. They're out their all day, and you mix that with city traffic and the other different obstacles. They get the full experience of what it takes."

He also said that because many of the soldiers were in Katrina, "they knew what they were getting into."

"But it was a challenge because in Katrina there wasn't anyone around there," Jones said. "You didn't have to watch where you were going. But up here you take the equipment and run it through a city as big as St. Louis with all the traffic there, it becomes more hazardous."

Jones said there were several minor accidents involving civilian motorists and the approximately 100 vehicles operated by the 1140th, but no one was injured.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245