In the last, perhaps, 10 days we in West Michigan have been honored to welcome home from combat duty in Iraq and Kuwait nearly 500 soldiers from the Michigan National Guard. Three hundred and twenty troopers from the 1st Squadron, 126th Cavalry spent 8 months escorting supply convoys from Kuwait into Iraq. One hundred and thirty infantrymen from Company C, 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry spent all of their time in Iraq. Every single Guardsman who deployed came home, safe and sound. This is the proof that our combat operations in the area have been very successful. The idiot newsman who threw his shoes at President Bush only had the freedom to do that because of the courage and blood provided by our brave troops. The Guardsmen who have just returned (and all the active and reserve Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guardsmen who have or will serve there) are the best of the best of us–they have proven that they understand that with our freedoms come obligation, duty, requirement to serve. We can never stop honoring them, their families, and their loved ones.