National Guardsmen to return home today

Gretchen Hoffman

The arrival of one DC-10 this morning is sure going to make a lot

of people happy.

More than 125 National Guardsmen from the Glendale Armory have

been released from their duties in Tooele, Utah, and will be reunited

with their families today at a ceremony in Los Alamitos.

“These soldiers have been away for a year defending our rights,”

Sgt. Carvel Gay said. “They were given a job to do, and they’ve done

it quite well.”

The Glendale Guardsmen left behind their jobs and their families

to work 8- to 12-hour days to protect a munitions depot, chemical

weapons and a chemical and biological weapons testing and research

facility.

They left behind new babies, pregnant wives and worried parents,

and they’ve had little face-to-face contact with them over the past

year.

About 40 people traveled to Tooele over Memorial Day weekend, but

for many families, contact has been restricted to short leaves or

cell-phone conversations.

The mission isn’t over -- the depot still needs protection -- but

other soldiers have been called into duty to defend it.

About 400 family members of the Guardsmen are expected at the

ceremony, which will take place at 10 a.m. at the Joint Forces

Training Base in Los Alamitos and include local, state and federal

officials.