Published: February 28, 2009 10:06 pm      

201st soldiers returning

Homecoming tentatively set for Thursday at BCMS

ASHLAND — The 201st Engineer Battalion is coming home.

After a nearly yearlong deployment in Afghanistan, soldiers with the Ashland-based Kentucky National Guard unit began arriving back in the United States on Friday.

By Monday, all members of the unit — approximately 500 soldiers — are expected to be back in the States, said 1st Lt. Stephen Martin, a spokesman for the Kentucky National Guard.

After landing in Maine, 201st members were to travel to Fort McCoy, Wis., the base from which they departed, for demobilization, Martin said. From there, they will fly to Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus, where they board buses for Boyd County Middle School.

Martin said Friday the unit’s homecoming was tentatively scheduled for Thursday. He said there was a possibility it could be pushed back by a day.

Regardless of the day, the unit’s buses are expected to arrive at the middle school around 5 p.m., Martin said.

Additional details, including confirmation of the homecoming date, will be forthcoming in the next day or so, he said.

Lt. Col Phil Miller, another Guard spokesman, said Friday the unit’s trip to Fort McCoy could be slowed by an ice storm in the northeastern portion of the United States.

Soldiers with the 201st — which has armories in Olive Hill, Prestonburg and Cynthiana in addition to Ashland — shipped out in early March of last year for Fort McCoy to begin training for their mission in Orgune, Afghanistan, about 15 miles from that country’s border with Pakistan.

The following month, the battalion was able to enjoy a brief homecoming before departing for Afghanistan, thanks to a generous donation from a Sturgis businessman. Bill Baird, owner and CEO of Saturn Welding and Equipment, donated $49,000 to the Friends and Family of the 201st to pay for the soldiers to be bused home from Fort McCoy.

The unit left for Afghanistan on April 30. While on deployment, members performed various tasks, including cooking, clearing routes, providing security to high-ranking military officials and doing control and logistics work.

The 201st suffered one casualty during its tour of duty.

Sgt. Daniel Wallace, 27, of Dry Ridge, a member of Company C out of Cynthiana, was killed in November when his platoon came under small-arms fire from Taliban forces during a route-clearing mission.

At the time of the incident, Wallace was serving as a gunner on a mine-resistant armored vehicle. He was a member of a platoon conducting a roadside bomb-sweeping mission in Afghanistan’s West Patika Province.

Wallace’s comrades were able to turn back the attackers so that Wallace could be evacuated to medical facility, but his wounds proved to be fatal.

Wallace enlisted in the National Guard in May 2006. Although he was a member of Company C, he was assigned to Company B out of Olive Hill during the deployment. He was the third Kentucky National Guard member to be killed in Afghanistan, and left behind his parents, two siblings and a 6-year-old son.

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.