State national guardsmen off to training

As the noonday sun beat down upon the football field at East Aurora High School Saturday, Liza Calabrese-Carnagio of Aurora walked toward her seat in the grandstand. She was chatting with Mirna Acosta of Berwyn, who's been dating her son since February.

Giuseppe Calabrese's mother and girlfriend were there for the young soldier's deployment ceremony - and the first of many farewells.

Over the next seven weeks, the 58 soldiers, all members of the Illinois Army National Guard's Charlie Troop 2nd Squadron, 106th Calvary, will begin training at either Fort Riley in Kansas or Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The unit will be deployed later this fall to Afghanistan for a tour of duty that could last as long as 400 days.

Giuseppe Calabrese, 20, a graduate of East Aurora High School, joined the National Guard in 2006.

"This would be his first tour," said his mother. "He's leaving Oct. 2, from what I understand. I have mixed feelings. He's here to serve our country. As a mother, it's hard. It's difficult, your child leaving."

After a lone bagpiper played "America the Beautiful," the soldiers, dressed in camouflage fatigues, marched onto the field.

"The support you provide is critical and irreplaceable," the unit's commander, Capt. Nathan A. Westby, told his charges. "You're the latest band of brothers, miles away from home, making this happen in the best way you can."

Westby said the soldiers who will report to Fort Riley will help build a national police force in several Aghan provinces, an effort that has been underway for about two years. Those who train at Fort Bragg will specialize in force protection when they arrive in Afghanistan, he said.

"This mission, you know, is very vital," said Major General Dennis Celletti, adding that not only should the soldiers be honored, but their families as well. "I know you're making sacrifices just like these soldiers."

State Sen. Chris Lauzen, an Aurora Republican, told the soldiers and their families that two of his four sons are serving in the military. "You and they represent the finest qualities of our sons and daughters," Lauzen said.

Sgt. Steven C. Krause read about the unit's history from a program printed for the ceremony: "Troop C 2nd Squadron 106th Calvary was reactivated in November 2005. During the past three years, Charlie Troop has successfully completed the transition from a light infantry company to a dismounted reconnaissance cavalry troop. This will mark the first deployment of C Troop proper since World War II, during which the 106th participated in all major European campaigns from Normandy to Austria." After the ceremony, soldiers and their families picnicked at the Aurora school grounds, which is also home to a National Guard armory, while Major Gen. Celletti took off in a Blackhawk helicopter to attend similar deployment ceremonies in Dixon and Pontiac.

A fourth deployment ceremony is scheduled for today in Kewaunee.