Published: November 20, 2009 05:17 pm      

Welcome home: Heroes of the 1033 back in Virginia

We join the greater Richlands community in welcoming home the soldiers of the 1033 Engineer Support Company following a year-long deployment in Afghanistan as part of the Global War on Terror.

The soldiers left Tazewell County last November for their overseas deployment. Their long journey came to an end last week, as the brave men and women of the 1033 began arriving back home in Virginia in different groups. All of the soldiers are due back in Tazewell County before Thanksgiving Day.

Just last month, another 38 soldiers from the 1033 Engineer Support Company also returned home to Tazewell County following a nine-month deployment in Iraq. The soldiers deployed to Iraq were later assigned to the 180th Engineer Company where they conducted more than 20 engineer missions in Iraq, including training compound improvements for the Iraqi Special Forces, site preparation for a bridge installation and the reopening of the last stretch of Iraqi Highway 1, according to an earlier Associated Press report.

The Richlands Area Chamber of Commerce is urging businesses and residents in the Richlands area to display yellow ribbons in their storefronts and yards as a show of support for the local soldiers.

We join the Richlands Area Chamber of Commerce in welcoming these brave men and women home.

Their service to their country, and to their community, will not be forgotten.

Although most of the Tazewell County-based soldiers are now back home, the region still has many local troops stationed overseas. We learned just Wednesday of a soldier from Bluefield, Va., who was injured in Afghanistan after his unit was ambushed by enemy combatants. The soldier, Adam Repass, 19, of Bluefield, Va., is now recovering from his injuries at a hospital in Germany.

The citizen soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 150th Armored Recon Squadron and 230th Forward Support Company based out of the Brushfork Armory in Bluefield also remain stationed overseas in Iraq, but will hopefully be returning stateside soon.

As we salute and welcome home the brave soldiers of the 1033 Engineer Support Company, we also continue to pray for the protection and safe return home of all of our soldiers who are still stationed in dangerous locations across the globe.

We as a region have not and will not forget the sacrifices of our local soldiers, and their families.

While many of these brave men and women may still be far from home, they are close in our thoughts and prayers.

We pray for their safe keeping.