{"id":927,"date":"2026-02-11T22:39:48","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T22:39:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/?p=927"},"modified":"2026-02-11T22:39:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T22:39:48","slug":"iowa-national-guard-soldiers-returning-from-middle-east-deployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/iowa-national-guard-soldiers-returning-from-middle-east-deployment\/","title":{"rendered":"Iowa National Guard soldiers returning from Middle East deployment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"844\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/img_8754.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-926\" srcset=\"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/img_8754.jpg 844w, https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/img_8754-300x232.jpg 300w, https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/img_8754-768x594.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 844px) 100vw, 844px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Around 250 members of the Iowa National Guard are&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcrg.com\/2026\/02\/01\/hundreds-iowa-national-guard-soldiers-set-return-home-middle-east\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">returning home<\/a>Wednesday after a nine month deployment in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Families and friends in Des Moines and Sioux City are preparing to welcome our heroes home, as&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcci.com\/article\/132d-air-wing-homecoming-des-moines\/70307198\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">KCCI reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Andy Newton\u2019s wife, Staff Sgt. Patricia Newton, has been overseas supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">It\u2019s a sacrifice soldiers and their families know they\u2019ll have to make when they join the Guard. But a year-long deployment hits a little differently when you have a little one at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Newton, who served in the Iowa Guard for over a decade, has been pulling dad and mom duty caring for their three-year-old daughter Grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Andy will get to embrace Patricia again, and watch as Grace reunites with her mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cIt\u2019s all about our daughter at this point,\u201d&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcci.com\/article\/132d-air-wing-homecoming-des-moines\/70307198\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">he told KCCI<\/a>. \u201dI can\u2019t wait to see her reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">It\u2019s not lost on Andy how lucky he is to have Patricia back. Especially after the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcrg.com\/2025\/12\/24\/iowa-prepares-somber-homecoming-two-fallen-soldiers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tragic loss of two fellow members<\/a>&nbsp;during her deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cGetting these days back is a huge relief,\u201d Newton shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The Iowa National Guard says Sioux City\u2019s ceremony will be at 1:45 p.m. at Ascension FBO Network in the Sioux City Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Des Moines will have two flights in, with 94 soldiers at 3:30 p.m. and 51 at 5 p.m. at the 132d Air Wing of the Des Moines International Airport.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The public is welcome to attend but must bring ID to clear through security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"copyright |\"><em>Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Around 250 members of the Iowa National Guard are&nbsp;returning homeWednesday after a nine month deployment in the Middle East. Families and friends in Des Moines and Sioux City are preparing to welcome our heroes home, as&nbsp;KCCI reports. Andy Newton\u2019s wife, Staff Sgt. Patricia Newton, has been overseas supporting Operation Inherent Resolve. It\u2019s a sacrifice [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=927"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":928,"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927\/revisions\/928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}