An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings
In The Appleton, WI Area?
Parade set for 395th soldiers’ return to Appleton on Sunday
About 45 members coming home after Afghanistan tour
After spending a year in Afghanistan, about 45 soldiers from the Army Reserve’s 395th Ordnance Company, based in Appleton, will return home on Sunday.
Al Kudrle, a member of VFW Post 2778, is organizing a parade for the returning soldiers, who arrived at Fort McCoy on Thursday.
The group will arrive in Appleton at the VFW on N. Richmond at Atlantic streets about 1 p.m., Kudrle said.
The soldiers deployed to Afghanistan on March 16, 2008. Chief Warrant Officer Ben Hinkle said the 395th served in several regions of Afghanistan setting up ammunition storage facilities.
Another 45 members of the 395th returned home on June 5, 2008, after spending a year in Iraq and Afghanistan. The unit was deployed to Afghanistan in 2003 and participated in Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
The 395th’s return comes as President Barack Obama is making plans to send 17,000 additional military personnel to Afghanistan to bolster the current 30,000-member contingent in the country.
Once in Appleton, the 395th soldiers will transfer from coach buses into open-sided trolleys, Kudrle said.
The trolleys will travel south on Richmond Street, east on College Avenue, north on Meade Street, east on Wisconsin Avenue and north on Ballard Road to the Reserve Center, 1824 N. Ballard Road.
Hinkle said dignitaries and 395th officers will speak during a 20-minute ceremony that is open to the public.
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