COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — The Iowa National Guard is deploying for a year and will ultimately ship out to Iraq. Friends and family gathered in Council Bluffs, Red Oak and Carroll on Wednesday to send them off.
WATCH KATRINA'S STORY HERE
- Congressman Randy Feenstra spoke at the Council Bluffs send off.
- After a visit to Powertech in Council Bluffs, Sen. Joni Ernst was a guest at the send off in Red Oak. Ernst is from the Red Oak area and served in the Iowa National Guard.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A lot of tears and hugs as loved ones send off members of the Iowa National Guard who are deploying to Iraq.
Steve Vollstedt from Manilla was there to see his nephew off on his first deployment. He told me his wife was in Carroll for another nephew also deploying with the National Guard.
Katrina Markel: “Do you have any worries about him?”
Steve Vollstedt: “Have lot of worries, anytime you leave the U.S. I think you have things to worry about. Iraq can’t be the safest place in the world.”
Twelve-year-old Jackson Robbins was with the rest of his family to say goodbye to his dad.
Katrina Markel: “How are you feeling about that?”
Jackson Robbins: “I don’t like it. I get emotional about it but, it is what it is.”
The soldiers will be away from home for a year. In addition to Carroll…there was another send off in Red Oak.
I’m Katrina Markel in Council Bluffs.
