Freedom Salute

Fifty National Guardsmen from this area who served in Iraq were honored recently in Cape Girardeau at a Freedom Salute Ceremony at Arena Park. Members of their families and friends watched as they were presented with an American flag, a commemorative coin, a lapel insignia and certificates of appreciation.

The soldiers returned from Iraq in November with the Missouri Army National Guard's 110th Engineer Battalion. In Iraq, the Guardsmen's primary task was to clear roadways and maintain supply routes. While there, they located 939 improvised explosive devices, the weapons that have accounted for most of the U.S. casualties.

Their job now is to readjust to civilian life. After living in a country where your life was in constant danger, coming home to a 9-to-5 job and family responsibilities must be extraordinarily difficult. The rest of us must in any way we can remind these men and women that the sacrifices they have made have not been forgotten.