Guard troops home for holidays leave for MI, then Iraq

posted: Hundreds of soldiers who had a holiday break in Iowa are headed back to Mississippi, and eventually Iraq. In October, the First Battalion of the Iowa National Guard’s 133rd infantry was assigned to Camp Shelby in Mississippi for training. They came back to Iowa for 10-day holiday break. But the soldiers have now packed up and left home once again to return to Camp Shelby, then they’ll be off on a tour of duty in Iraq. Staff Sergeant Dennis Boge spent the past few days getting to know his baby daughter. “They were great,” he says. “Makes it hard to leave, though.” Boge’s wife, Laura, echoes those sentiments. “Just hope for the best, and each day is one day less until we see him again,” she says. This group of soldiers isn’t expected to return home for good until March of 2007. Specialist Randy Perry is already making plans for what he’ll do. “Buying a house and a Harley when I come back, you know, I’m going to have good times!” Perry says. No word on when the unit will leave Mississippi for Iraq.