WILLMAR -- Dozens of people from the Willmar area have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as members of the National Guard and the active-duty military.
But because there's been no deployment of a Willmar-based unit, the town has not seen a big send-off or a welcome home celebration.
That will change on Sept. 23 when Willmar throws an official welcome home parade for its soldiers.
The idea came up at a meeting of the Family Readiness Group at the Willmar Armory, said Kammy Nelson, an organizer of the parade. The local Blue Star Mothers chapter is also working on the parade.
The parade will begin at 3 p.m. Sept. 23. It will include a color guard, the Willmar Senior High Marching Band and soldiers and their families riding in convertibles. The families of Sgt. Kyle Miller and Sgt. Joshua Schmit, Willmar soldiers who have been killed in action in Iraq, will also participate in the parade.
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The route will take the parade from the Willmar Education and Arts Center in downtown Willmar north on Fifth Street to Litchfield Avenue, then south on Fourth Street. The parade will end at Fourth Street and Minnesota Avenue. After the parade, a picnic for the soldiers and their families will be held at Rice Park.
The parade has been kept simple intentionally. "The attention is strictly on the military," Nelson said. "We don't want to detract from that."
The group sent letters to about 50 area soldiers with the help of the Kandiyohi County Veterans Service Office. Nelson said they are still looking for more.
Privacy issues prevent the military with providing a list of names, so the group has used a variety of sources to reach out to the soldiers, she said.
"If you served, we would love to have you come," Nelson said. That includes members of the service who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, whether with the National Guard or on active duty with any branch of the service.
"I know that everybody in the community really supports our troops, but there hasn't been a chance to show it," Nelson said.
"It was exciting to see the support out there in the community when we got started," she said. "Everybody wants to help."
The Family Readiness Group also sells red "Support our Troops" T-shirts and sweatshirts to Nelson has gotten involved in these efforts through her son, Jayme Nelson, 20, who is in the National Guard and just deployed with a unit from Litchfield. He arrived in Iraq last week and has a wife and baby son at home.
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Soldiers interested in participating in the parade and people interested in the shirts may call Nelson on her cell phone at 651-331-8465.
