SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - The soldiers of Utah National Guard's 624th Engineer Company are in Fort Bliss, the first leg of their ten month deployment to Afghanistan. Wednesday family and friends gave the men and women quite the send off.
Utah families filled the Army National Guard Air Hanger for the send off. There was a lot of love in the room and also quite a few tears. Each person had their own story as to why they were there.
For the Carr family from Blanding, they are saying goodbye to three men.
Lisa Carr told ABC4, "This is a way of life for us now."
Lisa is a pretty amazing woman. She is not only saying goodbye to her husband, but two of her sons. While she is obviously worried about them, her biggest concern goes to her daughter-in-laws and her grandchildren.
Carr said, "It just broke my heart, today is the last time these kids will see their dads for a while."
For the Carr men, having each other while in Afghanistan will make this deployment a bit easier.
Staff Sgt. Ivan Carr, the father, said; "This is my third deployment and while it never gets any easier, this one is a little better I have my boys coming with me."
The 150 soldiers leaving today will be helping to build up Afghanistan.
Captain Chris Vernon said during this mission his soldiers, "Are going to help people out. That's what we do."
Capt. Vernon knows his soldiers are ready to work, but said the goodbye is the hardest part of deployment.
Vernon said, "Most of us have been training for a long long time, it's leaving the family behind that's the hard part."
We expect to welcome home our Utah soldiers in about ten months, they are anticipating being home next spring.
