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2ND SQUAD ANSWERS CALL TO DUTY.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard

CORRECTION (ran 10/30/03): A story on page A1 Thursday about the deployment of the Oregon National Guard to Fort Hood, Texas, contained incorrect information. Pfc. Grant Steward's back rent was waived by the owner of his Springfield apartment complex after Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken made a call to Emerald Property Management.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first in an occasional series about the nine men who make up a squad in the Oregon National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry. They are beginning an 18-month mission - first training in Fort Hood, Texas, and eventually in Iraq.

They range in age from 19 to 39. Some have been part of military operations overseas before. One graduated from high school last year. Some are single. Most are married - with children.

They are the nine men of Charlie Company's 2nd Squad, 2nd Platoon within the Oregon National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry. They met for the first time earlier this month, their squad formed as part of the 700-member battalion's 18-month deployment that includes a one-year tour in Iraq.

Today, they fly out of Eugene Airport to Fort Hood, Texas, where they will undergo months of infantry training before heading for Iraq in the spring.

They will live together. Eat together. Train together. And, if they have to, they will fight together.

They are part of the longest and largest military call-up of Oregon soldiers since World War II.

They'll get to come home for Christmas, and then it's right back to Fort Hood. On Christmas 2004, they will still be in Iraq, helping to rebuild schools and bridges, patrolling streets and training police forces in their mission to rebuild Iraq.

The men of 2nd Squad, just like everyone in the Oregon National...

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