Families and friends will welcome home nearly 100 soldiers Wednesday after an 11-month deployment to Iraq.

Members of the 849th Mobility Augmentation Company, based in Litchfield, will return to Litchfield between noon and 1 p.m. Wednesday. The caravan will drive through town before a brief Welcome Home ceremony and dismissal at the Litchfield Armory.

About 40 area Minnesota Army National Guard soldiers are conducting their annual training in support of "Operation Jump Start,” a federal initiative utilizing National Guard soldiers to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border against illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

The soldiers--from the Willmar-based 682nd Engineering Battalion, the Litchfield-based 849th Engineer Company and the Cambridge-based 850th Engineer Company--left Saturday for New Mexico.

Thirty-five years after the withdrawal of American soldiers from Vietnam, Minnesota officially recognizes March 29 as Vietnam Veterans Day.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed into law last week a bill designating March 29 as Vietnam Veterans Day. The date was chosen because it commemorates the withdrawal of ground troops from the Asian country on March 29, 1973.

The Hutchinson Elks Lodge is hosting a community “Thank You” for all local military men and women who served in the Global War on Terror since 2001.

The reception, dinner and dance will be March 29 at the Elks Lodge at 720 Minnesota Highway 7 E. in Hutchinson.

“This is a special evening of reuniting and celebrating our recent veterans,” said Elks member Ember Reichgott Junge, event chair. “Each veteran can bring a guest for an evening of good food, live music and dancing with their colleagues and community.”

Logan Pautzke was all set to surprise his parents Dec. 26 after his flight arrived at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Pautzke, a Minnesota National Guardsman serving in Iraq, rented a car and drove out to the rural Litchfield farm. Finding his sister, Jessica, alone, the two left to find his parents, Dale and Stephanie. But his plan was foiled when his parents, who came home early, found his backpack sitting in the foyer.

Sarah Brock earned first place in the District 7 American Legion High School Oratorical Contest Jan. 6 at Litchfield High School Auditorium.

Brock, a sophomore, earned a $750 scholarship for her win and also earned the chance to compete in the Minnesota competition Jan. 18.

Trent Thomas had not seen his older brother in three years, so when the two celebrated Christmas together Dec. 23-26 it was a memorable occasion.

The circumstances were something less than a Norman Rockwell painting. Then again, Rockwell just might have found the event a perfect fit for his talents — two brothers from America’s heartland celebrating the holidays in a war zone.