PHOTOS: Emotional ceremonies mark National Guard sendoffs

Emotional Iowa National Guard troop sendoffs were held today in Cedar Falls, Peosta, Iowa City and Oelwein for soldiers being deployed to Afghanistan.

Oelwein

Pride and prayer took center stage Tuesday morning at a sendoff ceremony for the 40 members of Detachment 1 of Company C, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry.

“These guys are special right here,” said a tearful Rex Ericson, as he pointed to his heart during his keynote address in the auditorium of the Oelwein Middle School.

Ericson, an Oelwein City Council member who retired from the Iowa National Guard after 25 years with the 1-133rd, told the children in the packed auditorium: “Trust me when I say your father will be thinking of you every day (during his Afghanistan deployment) and remember he is serving to secure your future.”

The Rev. Vicki Reece, pastor of the United Methodist Church in Jesup, urged the soldiers' family members and loved ones to pray for their protection during their deployment with the 2,800-member 2nd Brigade Combat Team.

“Picture a bubble of God's protection and light around each soldier as you pray,” Reece said.

Charlie Company's platoon leader, 1st Lt. Jason Boesen, 28, of Ankeny, said the record rate of U.S. casualties last month in Afghanistan has not affected his unit's morale.

“It's a wave. Those things come and go, but the mission is still the same, and we are eager to get started,” Boesen said.

Newlywed Tina Farley, 24, of Cedar Rapids, said she will worry about her husband of seven months, Sgt. Seph Farley, 26, but will take comfort in her knowledge that “he is good at what he does, and that the soldiers in his unit will be watching his back.”

Steve and Mary Herold of Monona were in Oelwein to say farewell to both a son and daughter participating in the Iowa Guard deployment.

Pfc. Penny Herold, 20, is a member of Company E of the 334th Brigade Support Battalion, whose sendoff ceremony was Tuesday morning in Cedar Falls. But she got permission to join her brother, Spc. Chad Herold, 22, a member of Detachment 1 of Company C, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry, at the Oelwein sendoff.

“We are proud of them. It takes a lot of courage to commit to what they are doing,” said Steve Herold.

-- By Orlan Love

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Iowa City

Saying goodbye is never easy, regardless of your military rank.

Tuesday morning, Captain Kevin Hrodey gathered with his 90 soldiers of Bravo Company, 133

^rd

Infantry, at City High School to bid farewell to family and friends.

“It's going to be hard,” Hrodey said.  “There's going to be tears.”

As a child, Hrodey dreamed of the moment he would lead soldiers into battle.

“He's always played Army,” said his father, Mark Hrodey.  “I have a picture of him when he was eight years old. Always like to go to Army surplus stories and he bought some fatigues and some dummy hand grenades.”

Captain Hrodey grew up knowing of the importance of serving in the military.

“My grandfather was in the Korean War and other grandfather was in World War II,” he said.  “I feel proud to say I can do my part and quell the problem the world has.”

Though the Company Commander has long since traded the uniforms and fake weapons from his childhood for the real thing and has been deployed once before, this is first time he'll take the lead command.

“It's a good feeling,” Capt. Hrodey said.  “I feel very proud, fortunate that I have such a good group of guys to lead.”

The first stop for these soldiers will be Camp Shelby in Mississippi.

“We're going to be drinking from the fire hose and running about a million miles a minute to get us to where we need to be,” Hrodey said.

Once training is complete, these men will go to Afghanistan; however, Tuesday morning, Hrodey led his men into a different battle: Saying goodbye to their loved ones.  While he admits it's difficult to leave family behind – his year wedding anniversary to wife Lindsey is Sunday – the commander knows his country is counting on him and his men.

“I've only known you briefly, but already I know that you are some of the most professional soldiers I've worked with,” Hrodey said during his send-off speech inside City High auditorium.  “I have the utmost confidence that together we will excel and be successful with whatever hand is dealt to us during this next year.”

The captain's family gave him some advice as they hugged and kissed him good-bye: bring the soldiers safely home.

-- Jami Brinton, KCRG-TV9

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Peosta, Cedar Falls

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