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Ark. soldiers return from Iraq deployment

LAWTON, Okla. — A group of about 170 Arkansas National Guard members have returned to Fort Sill after a deployment to Iraq.

Soldiers with C Battery, 2nd Battalion, 142nd Fires Brigade were welcomed Wednesday at a homecoming ceremony at the southwest Oklahoma Army post.

James McCutcheon of Blanchard waited with his wife, Debbie, to greet his son, Spc. Anthony McCutcheon, 23, of Fort Smith, Ark. James McCutcheon said his son made up his mind to join the National Guard after he graduated from high school. He said it was his son’s second deployment to Iraq.

“He’s enjoyed it. I guess that’s why he wanted to go back a second time, because he liked it, and he’s talked about making it a career,” he said.

Col. Richard C. Longo, deputy commanding officer of the Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill, honored the soldiers and their families for their service and sacrifice.

“The accomplishment of this team before you is awe-inspiring,” Longo said.

He said the Guardsmen conducted more than 350 combat patrols, engaged anti-Iraqi forces more than 144 times while providing convoy escort security, put 792,000 miles on their vehicles and earned 152 Combat Action Badges.

Longo also noted that three members of the unit died during the deployment.

• Sgt. John R. Massey, 29, of Higginson, Ark., died on July 15 in Balad, Iraq, after a roadside bomb detonated near his vehicle during combat operations the day before in Baghdad.

• Sgt. Michael Lee Chenoweth, 29, of Plainview, Ark., died on Aug. 28 during a return visit home to Arkansas after a boating accident the previous evening on the Petit Jean River at Slaty Crossing east of Centerville, Ark.

• Spc. Chirasak Vidhyarkorn, 32, of Queens, N.Y., died on Sept. 29 in Diwaniyah, Iraq, of injuries suffered from a non-combat-related incident.