HOME AGAIN!

The Decorah Fire Department hung a giant American flag over Water Street to welcome home the 322nd

Now that the 322nd Engineering Battalion's deployment to Afghanistan is over, the soldiers and family members agree that the deployment wasn't as hard as they had feared it might be when the soldiers left last January.

Hesper resident Vicki Losen, the wife of 1SGT Brian Losen, said Tuesday, "It went well--we have nothing to complain about."  Losen says the 2003 deployment of the engineering unit to Iraq was a more difficult time.  "My stress level wasn't as high this time," she says.  The community support from Decorah helped greatly, she says: "The community has been wonderful."

Samantha Tart, the wife of Tony Tart of Wycoff, Minnesota, says she's glad to have her husband back.  She had to rely on Facebook updates and a few Skype sessions to keep up on what her husband was doing as a mechanic with the 322nd.

Terry Falck of Decorah, the mother of Trever Falck, admits the deployment "just about drove me crazy."  But she says this deployment to Afghanistan was easier than the previous deployment in 2003 to Iraq.

SFC Tony Roethler of Elma agrees.  He says there was nothing this time in Afghanistan that put them in jeopardy.  While the soldiers aced some tough tasks and long hours in Afghanistan, they all returned in good health--something the soldiers and family members agree is the most important thing.

A giant yellow ribbon outside the Army Reserve Center