IUP will help welcome home the 420th Engineers Company by hosting a reunion of returning company members and their families at Memorial Fieldhouse on Wednesday, February 6.
Returning from Afghanistan, the unit arrived at Fort Bliss, Texas, on January 25.
The troops will arrive in Indiana between 4:00 and 4:30 p.m., entering town from the east, traveling west along Philadelphia Street to 91 Street, then left on Oakland Avenue to 13th Street, which will be blocked off. They'll turn onto Maple Street on campus and proceed to Memorial Fieldhouse, where they'll be reunited with their families.
While in Afghanistan, the 420th Engineers Company was awarded 110 Combat Action Badges, four Combat Medical Badges, 13 Purple Hearts, 28 Bronze Stars, one Bronze Star with Valor, eight Army Commendation Medals with Valor, and 112 Army Commendation Medals. They completed more than 480 engineer clearance operations, sweeping roads and trails of explosive devices, and trained three Afghan Nation Army units to do the same.
Mayor George Hood invites all residents of Indiana County to turn out to greet the 420th Engineers Company as they return from a year's deployment. IUP is proud to be part of this community celebration.