“You have skills and you’re not taking drugs,” Kasich told them. “Do you know how valuable that is to an employer?”
He urged those still in need of employment to get in touch. The job might require a move, he said, but there’s work to be had.
“A great, great life lies ahead for every one of you,” Kasich said.
For many of the soldiers, it’s already a wonderful life — they’re home for the holidays.
“Coming back for the holidays, that, to me, was a good gift in itself,” said Pfc. John Redmond, a Youngstown resident in C Company.
Both companies are part of the Columbus-based 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which initially had been scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in January as a full, 3,000-soldier brigade.
Ultimately, only half were sent to Afghanistan, including the 115 soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, who provided base defense for Camp Sabalu-Harrison and its adjoining detention facility in Parwan.
The 104 soldiers of C Company ended up deploying first to Kuwait for four months, then to the island nation of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, where they provided security at Sheik Isa Airbase.
Neither company reported any injuries.
Specialist Jeremy Burnette, a 28-year-old father of two and a member of C Company from Lorain, initially was disappointed they didn’t go to Afghanistan, but Bahrain turned out to be a decent consolation prize.
“It was a beautiful country,” he said. “In a lot of ways, I’m glad we went somewhere a little safer.”
For Specialist Sean Clancy, a 23-year-old member of C Company from the village of Garrettsville in Portage County, either place would’ve been difficult — he missed the birth of his first child in February.
“Honestly,” Clancy said, “that was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through.”
He had to view the birth of his son, Rowan, on Skype. “That was interesting,” remarked his girlfriend, Courtney Mayle.
Clancy met his son for the first time in September — and the timing couldn’t have been better.
“Dadda was his first word,” he said. “That was nice, considering I missed so much of his life.”
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