THE “WOLFPAcK” IS HOME

CHISHOLM – Sgt. Joshua Rice of Hibbing said one of the most important things people can do for deployed

Members of the 114th Transportation Co. at the Chisholm Armory, l. to r.: Staff Sgt. Jeff Nicholls of Duluth; Sgt. Joshua Rice of Hibbing; Staff Sgt. Karl Stenlund of Hibbing. Photo by Jean Cole. soldiers who have returned home from a mission is to simply say, “Thank you.”

It doesn’t seem like much, but Sgt. Rice said it means a lot. “It’s hard for us…we don’t really expect thanks, but it’s gratifying. We think of [our missions] as a job, but people look at it as a service. And it’s nice to hear when someone says ‘Thanks.’”

The city of Chisholm is saying “Thanks” in a big way on Sunday, Sept. 19, with a public ceremony and lunch for all members of the Minnesota Army National Guard’s 114th Transportation Company (114th TC) and their families. The event is part of the Reintegration Program for the Minnesota soldiers who returned in June 2010 after a one-year deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

According to community organizer Veda Ponikvar, events planned for the day include a caravan and fighter jet flyovers above the city’s Bridge of Peace, the soldiers’ march from the armory to the Chisholm High School, and the 11 a.m. ceremony featuring speeches by military and other dignitaries, performances by the award-winning 34th Infantry Division Band, and the a cappella presentation of “God Bless America” and “The Star Spangled Banner” by local World War II veteran Nick Zobenica. The ceremony will be followed by lunch for soldiers and their families at the armory. Local food committee volunteer Rosie Marino expects to serve approximately 2,000 people.

The 114th TC is a Minnesota Army National Guard Company headquartered in Duluth, with a Detachment in Chisholm. Known as “The Wolfpack,” its mission was to provide ground transport of essential supplies to Coalition Forces in Afghanistan and conduct patrols to outlying bases.

Of the 187 soldiers of The Wolfpack, it was the first deployment for 118. It was the second deployment for 66 of the soldiers, and for three soldiers it was the third deployment of their careers.

Sgt. Rice, who has been in the Minnesota National Guard since 1998, was one of those three soldiers on his third deployment. His first deployment was in 2001, when he spent nine months stateside in Georgia. In 2004 he was deployed for one year to Kuwait. Now, home from Afghanistan, he’s ready to get his life back on track.

The soldier had been working full time for the Guard at Camp Ripley for two years prior to his most recent deployment and is currently working on orders at the Chisholm Armory, helping with the return of equipment from Afghanistan. Soon, however, Sgt. Rice will be job-hunting. “I’m hoping to get a job in the mines. Or, go back to school. We’ll see,” he said. Re-establishing his relationships with his 2-year-old daughter and his girlfriend are priorities.

Staff Sgt. Karl Stenlund, SSG, of the 114th and also of Hibbing, is happy to be back to his full time administrative job with the National Guard in Chisholm and returning home every day to his wife Katrina and son Carter, 4. He said that the Reintegration events, like the Chisholm celebration, are helpful to soldiers returning from war. More than just dinners and ceremonies, the Reintegration Program provides soldiers with support in many areas of their lives including relationships, veterans benefits, personal finances, job searches, education, and more. Family counseling and counseling for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are also part of the program.

“All of these things are very helpful,” said Sgt. Stenlund. “All soldiers appreciate the efforts of our communities, that they give and keep giving,” he said. “Our hometowns, Duluth, Chisholm, they’ve given a lot of support to us.”

Sgt. Stenlund’s latest deployment was his second, the first being in 2003 to Bosnia for nine months. He said when word arrives that your company is being deployed, it can be unsettling. “You get nervous. You don’t know what to expect. But we could see it coming. We knew it was going to happen eventually.”

For him, the priority was keeping his soldiers safe and seeing they didn’t get hurt. Of the 187 Wolfpack soldiers, one did not make it home. Spc. George Cauley, 24, of Walker, Minn., died October 10, 2009 in Bagram, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from an Improvised Explosive Device incident that occurred October 7 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Both Rice, 30, and Stenlund, 29, come from families with military service backgrounds. They would not change their decision to join the National Guard were they able to do it over again, even though Stenlund said that his recent deployment changed the way he felt about the war in Afghanistan. Rice feels that his military service has “instilled a lot of great values” in him. “It’s made me who I am,” he said. “I’m happy with where I am in life.”

Sgt. Rice’s advice for family and friends of returning soldiers is to give them time and space to readjust. “Try to understand that they’ve been through different and difficult times while they’ve been away. They need time. Because as soon as you come home, people want to see you. Everyone wants to see you. They want you here. And here. And here. That’s how it was for me,” he said. “They need time.”

Both men said PTSD is a serious concern for some returning soldiers. “Everyone has different experiences [while deployed],” said Rice. “I’ve been lucky. I’ve adapted. But everyone handles the stress of being over there differently.”

The day I spoke with Rice and Stenlund, they were both shivering a bit in the mid-50s weather. “We’re freezing,” they said. I suppose, since they were used to a year of temps that could rise to 140 degrees. “It was so hot there, you had to wear gloves because anything you touched was hot,” said Stenlund.

IRON RANGE MEMBERS OF THE 114TH TC

Sgt. Stenlund gave me the following names of Wolfpack members from across the Iron Range:

Biwabik: Josh Letourneau Chisholm: Robert Hamilton, Anthony Newman, Joshua Jenkins, T.J. Smith Eveleth: Michael Andrews, Dean Esala Mt. Iron: Devon Limesand, Dave Felten Virginia: Robert Winters, Dennis Coan, Christopher Heishman