Minnesota Army National Guard unit marks 20 years since historic Iraq deployment

20 years since MN National Guard unit was deployed to Iraq

It has been 20 years since a Minnesota Army National Guard unit was deployed to Iraq. FOX 9's Kelcey Carlson has the story.

(FOX 9) - A Minnesota Army National Guard unit came together this weekend to mark 20 years since their deployment to Iraq ended.

Delta 216 Air Defense Artillery

The backstory:

Delta 216 served until March 2005 and upon returning to Minnesota, the unit was transitioned into other units, so the soldiers never worked together as the same group again.

They’ve made it a priority to have reunions so they can see each other and support one another.  

"I think the average age was 18 or 19," says Bob Dedic, a First Sergeant with the unit. "I was the old man at 48. For most of them, it was the most significant event at the time in their life period."

Dedic says the support back home was key. The community had prayer chains, fundraisers and other events. Dedic and his wife, Pam, were in the process of moving his elderly parents into their home when he received news of the activation.   

His father later passed away while he was serving in Iraq.  "Every family had something," says Pam. 

"There was not one family that didn’t go through something in that deployment," she adds. 

Delta 216 in later years

Dedic says the unit consisted of 153 soldiers from Monticello. They were transitioned into the 257th MP Company and the soldiers were separated into different drill locations.

The 216 was the first military unit in Minnesota history to receive the Valorous Unit Citation.