WEBVTT

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(flags rustling)

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- [Man] And now, ladies and gentlemen,

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let me introduce the
soldiers of Alpha Battery.

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("The Washington Post"
by John Philip Sousa)

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- To me, it's a little bittersweet.

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A lot of our guys really
enjoyed it over there.

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A few of us actually tried
to say, myself included.

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Just, to me, a phenomenal mission,

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a great opportunity
for us going over there

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and doing what we did.

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The general sentiment,
we're all glad to be back

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and be glad to go do it again, if need be.

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- I'm so very proud of them,
and we did come together

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so closely as a family.

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We were commonly bonded by the pressures

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of what was happening
around us and the mission.

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So, it forged everybody into
a no, there were no limits.

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There was no left, no right.

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There was no you versus me.

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It was we are in this
together, and that was a,

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that's something I'm not
sure if you can ever find

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outside of a battlefield.

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Even though our battle
record remains sealed,

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there are certain details I wish to share

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with the audience today
to give some indication

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of the exceptional job
these soldiers performed.

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While overseas, they performed
the first air-transported

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artillery raid in theater
and battalion history

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and rewrote the book
for future operations.

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They fired the first ATACMS
missile in battalion history,

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and for those who are unaware,

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the ATACMS are the very big missiles,

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not the little, itty-bitty
ones, the big ones.

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As far as turning them back
over to their families,

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to see how happy they are, you know,

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I know that while all of our team

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is kind of missing each
other, at the same time,

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they get to go back to the
team that will be with them

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for their life, and I'm
very, I'm just very excited

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to be able to turn them over

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knowing that they
accomplished an amazing task.

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They worked very hard at it,

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and we're sending them back healthy,

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and that's what really matters the most.

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From the coldest months to
the madness-inducing heat,

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these soldiers performed with distinction,

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with no negative judicial
actions and no casualties.

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Their awards include two
Army Achievement Medals

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with Combat Devices, 21
Army Commendation Medals

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with C Devices, and
currently, seven Bronze Stars

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are awaiting their final approval.

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Ladies and gentlemen,
these soldiers before you

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have performed in the highest
traditions of the Army,

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the North Carolina National Guard,

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and the fifth of the
113th Field Artillery.

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Soldiers of Alpha Battery,
carry on, and do good things.

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It has been my greatest privilege.

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(audience applauding)