Minnesota Reintegration Officer Captain Aaron Krenz will be visiting the Perham Rotary at their Thursday noon meeting on May 10. He will be sharing information about the program "Beyond the Yellow Ribbon". The program has been a vision of Minnesota Adjutant General, Major General Larry Shellito to train communities to help combat veterans and their families after war.
Krenz, who served as a Company Commander in Iraq in 2005 says, "Coming home from war has never been easy. The Global War on Terrorism is no different." Thousands of combat veterans are returning to communities around Minnesota. They and their families face the challenge of putting their lives back together." He adds, "Communities can help a combat veteran and their family come all the way home."
Otter Tail County Veterans Service Officer, Jourdan Sullivan says Minnesota has taken the lead in reintegration programs. In a January report Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Michael Dominguez indicated key Department of Defense activities to support military families "will specifically target the needs of the units in the Minnesota National Guard", the first state heavily impacted by the President's new strategy for the war in Iraq.
Captain Krenz says that while "we are preparing to receive over 2,600 Soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team this summer, the largest simultaneous redeployment in our state's history, we have not forgotten about the individual Soldier and family." Monthly Individual Reintegration Training is offered to all service members military and their families.
Chaplain (Major) John Morris, Minnesota Army National Guard, was deployed with the US troops who were located in Fallujah, Iraq. Chaplain Morris is recognized as the force behind the implementation of the "Beyond the Yellow Ribbon" program. Chaplain Morris is a champion of the cause to help facilitate the reintegration of returning soldiers spending much of his time during the past two years assisting institutions and organizations in understanding the issues faced by returning soldiers and their families. "We have a moral obligation to return soldiers to citizen status."
