MILITARY & VETERANS AFFAIRS
NEWS RELEASE

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kryn P. Westhoven at 609-530-6950 office

609-847-2215 cell

     Nearly 300 New Jersey Army National Guard Soldiers who just finished serving a year in Iraq were officially welcomed home today by their families, Gov.-elect Chris Christie and Maj. Gen. Glenn K. Rieth, the Adjutant General, at a ceremony in Trenton.

 

     The troops from the 1-150th Assault Helicopter Battalion and 628th Aviation Support Battalion marched into the War Memorial as the 63rd Army Band played the theme to “Star Wars” and their families waved American flags.

 

     “You've honored us with your service more than we could ever honor you,” Christie told the Soldiers and their families. “You are among a special group of American patriots – you don't talk the talk, you walk the walk.”

 

     Christie will be sworn in as the state's 55th governor on Tuesday. He selected the National Guard State Family Readiness Council, which provides emergency financial support to deployed National Guard troops, as one of three charities that will receive a portion of the money raised by the 2010 Christie-Guadagno Inauguration committee.

 

     On Friday, Christie reappointed Rieth to continue as Adjutant General, a cabinet position that leads the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and commands the state's 8,300 Army and Air National Guard troops.

 

     Rieth, a former Army aviator, told the Soldiers it was fitting they were being honored after their tour in the building “that was built to honor those who served with dignity, honor and patriotism. And that is all of you.”

 

     While in Iraq, the Soldiers from the two New Jersey units flew nearly all of the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter missions in Central Iraq – more than 900 missions. The maintenance crews battled the harsh environment and had a 96 percent mission launch rate, a particularly impressive accomplishment because the aircraft are 25 to 30 years old.

 

     Rieth said the unit's biggest accomplishment was transporting 11,000 Soldiers and Marines by air, allowing them to avoid travel on Iraq's often treacherous roads.

 

     “Because of you, they're going to be coming home to their families too,” Rieth said.

 

     For many of the Soldiers on the deployment, service was a family affair.

 

     During his first tour of duty in Iraq, Sgt. Victor Hernandez met his bride to be Sgt. Carmine Villegas in 2003. Five years later the pair exchanged wedding vows just before Carmine deployed with her son, Sgt. Felipe Diaz, both of whom were serving with the New Jersey Army National Guard's 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

 

     All three are now safely back in New Jersey.

 

     “It's a great feeling being together again,” Carmine Hernandez said.