10.07.12

Hoeven Honors Soldiers at Freedom Salute Ceremony

FARGO, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven today joined the community to honor 160 members of the North Dakota Army National Guard’s 188th Engineer Company who recently returned home following a yearlong deployment in Kuwait. Hoeven paid tribute to the soldiers’ for their service, and thanked them and their families for their service to the state and nation.

“We are grateful to these selfless soldiers who left their loved ones and the comforts of home and answered our nation’s call to serve,” Hoeven said. “They well represented our state during their time in Kuwait and we are grateful for their hard work and sacrifice on our behalf. North Dakota National Guard members play an important role in our nation’s efforts to defend freedom, and we can’t do enough to thank them for their service.”

The 188th Engineer Company is based in Wahpeton and Oakes, and includes soldiers from nearly 70 communities in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. These soldiers specialize in vertical construction missions and are skilled in construction trades, including masonry, carpentry and plumbing. The guardsmen completed more than 150 construction projects in Kuwait including major renovations and building construction. The soldiers deployed in August 2011 and returned home in August 2012 after logging more than 83,000 hours of work.