ESSAYONS

By Lt. Col. Paul Landry
Joint Force Headquarters Public Affairs

The Massachusetts National Guard welcomed home over 100 of its Engineers February 17th at a ceremony held at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Melrose.

The men and women of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 101st Engineer Battalion (Forward) were hailed as heroes and given a welcome home by friends and families, as well as members of the state’s military and civilian leadership.

The 101st deployed to Kosovo in November of 2006, to assist in peacekeeping operations for one year. The unit conducted military police missions, infantry missions, engineer missions and civil affairs missions while deployed.
“The unit conducted 1,100 security patrols, 462 escort missions and totaled over 330,000 miles,” said Capt. Christopher Perrin, the company commander.

The “Renegades”, the unit’s nickname, also conducted 24 engineer missions. They built roads, created soccer fields and other civil improvement projects.

The ceremony coincided with the announcement that Kosovo had declared its independence. It was no doubt to anyone present that the Massachusetts National Guard’s efforts there for the last year helped them gain their independence.
The men and women of HHC, 101st Engineer Battalion lived up to the Engineer Motto “ESSAYONS” or “Let Us Try”. Not only did they try, they succeeded.