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Show KK IJ! PKtbllRI -8b C laywed. nightNTI y Bunny Cares. See Page B1 Wednesday Thursday Hockey top dogs. .It) W 71)0 S 8 S00 "i m i; . in hi i o i Some sun. dee page A7 Some sun; warm and nice Variable cloudiness. Single Copy 50 t Wednesday, April 28, 2004 Vernal, Utah 84078 112th Year No. 17 20 Pages 77 WiEmmi SUPPORT OUR TROOPS Express online: www.vernal.com See Page B10 M MM nlm By Maureen Spencer Express Writer Vernal residents will be poised to welcome the 1457th troops home on Wednesday, May 5, according to Marcie Young, coordinator of Vernal's Family Assistance Center. "We will be able to have the exact time on the radio stations that morning," morn-ing," said Young as she made the announcement. Some troops will arrive with their loved ones in private pri-vate cars with their headlights on while others will be aboard buses. Young says the families and soldiers sol-diers are anticipating all who can, to line the Main Street route of the returning troops. Residents are encouraged to be prepared to make as much noise and wave all the flags that they can to show the troops appreciation for their sacrifices sacri-fices in Iraq and the sacrifices of the Guard's families. Tuesday afternoon, the Vernal troops were awaiting the beginning begin-ning of their return at an air base in Kuwait. The Vernal unit was to arrive in Fort Lewis, Wash, at 6 a.m. Wednesday following an 18-hour 18-hour flight. "This unit has performed brilliantly bril-liantly over the past year and we are excited to get our soldiers home," Major General Brian Tarbet told reporters this week as he made the announcement that the Utah 1457th Engineer Combat Battalion has officially offi-cially been removed from the lists of units being extended in Iraq. The official Pentagon announcement announce-ment cleared the way for the 1457th to begin returning to the United States this week on their way to Fort Lewis, Wash. Monday, the Utah National Guard office in Draper verified that parts of Utah's 1457th had actually begun arriving in the United States. The change in orders occurred as a result of a review and evaluation of what types of units the combatant commander in theater felt he needed to accomplish the mission. Tarbet had been in Vernal Friday, April 16 to update and encourage families following the official continuation con-tinuation of the deployment of the 1457th. Vernal troops had already been sent to Kuwait awaiting their return home when the extension of the Time to cDeami County Cleanup Week, May 3 to 9, is the third year Uintah County and government agencies have worked together to clean up the county. Landfill fees for yard waste will be waived during the week, said Uintah County Commissioner Dave Haslem. Participating agencies are the Bureau of Land Management, State t,Ag,i,U II Trash is scatter on public land in Uintah County i (o Vernal flags snapped to attention atten-tion the morning the good news was flashing through Vernal that the local 1457th troops were on their way home. assignment had been announced. With the April ' 22 announcement announce-ment that the Utah troops would be coming home, came jubilation and humor as families began anticipating anticipat-ing a safe return of their loved ones. Sgt. First Class Brian Wilkinson of the Vernal National Guard said Friday the only negative response he has had to the news was some wives saying, "Oh no! Now I'll have to get my house cleaned up!" According to Wilkinson, there has been an overwhelming public pub-lic response to the good news with people calling to find out when they should get their banners up and plan their homecomings. "It just makes me feel warm and proud how the community has taken these guys in," Wilkinson said. He noted that one wife had contacted him Friday morning reporting her husband had called to say they were indeed coming home. "I just told her to not believe all of those rumors," Wilkinson said. Within minutes, he found out the reports were true, and he was pleased to call her back and apologize. apolo-gize. One soldier, anticipating his return to a Vernal summer, wrote to his family, "I can't wait to get home. Softball's a "go." Employers of returning troops must wait until each troop uses individual indi-vidual leave-time before they are clear to return to work. and Institutional Trust Land, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, along with a host of other local agencies. Everyone is encouraged to get involved. People can do their part by simply cleaning up around their property or by volunteering as an individual, family, business or organization orga-nization to help cleanup the community. com-munity. C"TirS ' 11 ,n S t W If 1. " -V ' V ' -? ClillllllllllHg'! Balloon pilot, Larry Klein, fires the Prom Date to remember Josh Exton of Vernal met Marie Sanchez of California two years ago on the Internet. Last Eastern they met each other face-to-face for the first time. So when Josh asked her to the Prom, it was only natural for her to say "yes." Only her second time in Utah and first time in Vernal, Marie received the grand tour of Vernal including dinosaurs, forest and museums. The most exciting part of the was the balloon ride. top ySmiGalh) cooood There are many locations where trash has been illegally dumped. As one drives through what should be pristine public lands, it's not uncommon to see old refrigerators, couches, televisions, piles of trash, shot up bottles, along with bloated dead animals. Not only is the dumping dump-ing on public lands illegal, it is also a health and safety issue for the public. - A' burning to bring the balloon in to equalibrium. ml 1 I t t- ?, o I I Michelle Vansekelenborg, Marie for balloon launch. There are many areas on public pub-lic lands in the county where dead animals have been dumped. Uintah County has an ordinance concerning concern-ing the disposal of dead animals. That ordinance states that it is the responsibility of the owner or other person responsible for any domestic animal which dies, to bury or otherwise other-wise dispose of it within two days after death. If the owners or other person responsible for such an animal cannot can-not be found, it is the duty of the county, city or town within which the dead animal is found, at such political subdivision expense to bury the dead animal. No person shall deposit a dead animal upon the land of another person without the latter's consent. Any person found guilty of violating the ordinance can be charged with a Class "C" misdemeanor. misde-meanor. In July of 2003, Uintah County amended it "Junk Ordinance" to read that "Friendly effort should be made to encourage landowners to remove junk, solid waste, and obsolete vehicles on a voluntary basis. Ideally, such efforts should take place first on the neighborhood level. ... 7 U1 v V u ' u -A - - ti - 7 - , . J r i At- yCitlitl he I -Jii . Af("-i v i v f y i Sanchez and Josh Exton prepare Uintah County officials are pleased that the public has embraced the cleanup cause, despite the initial public outcry to the amending of the Junk Ordinance. Last year during the week of County Cleanup, the landfill recorded record-ed a total of 1 ,307 loads. There were in excess of 45 volunteers who participated par-ticipated with 1,184 volunteer hours recorded. It was estimated that it would have cost $35,000 to pay for the cleanup services provided by these volunteers. The county officials offi-cials want to exceed last year's success. suc-cess. During Cleanup Week if you would like to help pickup the county's coun-ty's public lands, you can contact Jerry Kencska with the BLM 781-4440 781-4440 or Heather Hoyt with Uintah County, 781-5482 to obtain more information. The Uintah County Landfill will be open during this week, free of charge from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Landfill administrator Shawn Labrum reminds the public that there is a limit of four tires per load coming into the landfill. If you should have a large amount of tires See Cleanup on A2 High praise before departure Engineer Brigade Commander Col. Lou Marich of the 1st Armored Division has praised the work of Utah's Pioneers of the 1457th Battalion. The 1457th is comprised of soldiers sol-diers from units in Vernal, Mt. Pleasant, Blanding, Price, Tooele, American Fork, Riverton and Camp Williams. Marich says he was immediately impressed when the group arrived in Iraq. "The battalion literally 'hit the ground running' upon its arrival in Baghdad in May by conducting con-ducting tunnel reconnaissance missions mis-sions here at Baghdad International Airport," he told a gathering of Iraqi and military guests prior to the Battalion being transitioned to Kuwait. The pioneers performed many dangerous tasks during their year in Iraq. The "sappers", specialized combat engineers that are proficient profi-cient in digging and explosives, proved extremely brave. Such units are known for digging under enemy lines and the military skill goes back to the ancient Legions of Rome, thus "sapping" the strength of the enemy. fwtfatitoh said, "During the mission, mis-sion, the battalion's sappers drove over tSXX) miles on dangerous and hostile streets with no accidents acci-dents or incidents." One of the Engineers' most dangerous dan-gerous missions was to explore and map "out tunnels carved underneath Baghdad. According to Marich, the pioneer sappers mapped over 8,000 meters of tunnels. Marich labeled the 1457th as the division's "91 1 engineer battalion" because they performed every task possible for an engineer battalion. "When a brigade combat team needed additional engineer support, when the division needed combat com-bat engineer missions completed, or when a crisis called for a rapid engineer response we called upon the 1457th," Marich said, "And in every case, no matter how difficult the conditions, the battalion accomplished accom-plished its mission with a degree of professionalism, aggressiveness and determination that was second to none. Marich went on to say that the 1457th was the best engineer battalion bat-talion that he has served with in his over 25 years of active duty. The 1457th focused their efforts to combat unexploded ordinance and improvised explosive devices, both of which are some of the most dangerous threats currently in Iraq. Their efforts assisted in the protection protec-tion of civilians and soldiers from harm. According to Marich, for six months, 24 hours a day, the Pioneers patrolled ASR Sue, an essential supply route for the division. Often, the 1457th was ambushed along the route and was required to fight through those ambushes. The 1457th maintained and supported sup-ported bridges. The battalion also salvaged and repaired Russian-built Russian-built bridge components in order to support the installation of a PMP bridge, a Russian-designed ribbon bridge, across the Diyala River. The battalion also maintained all military bridges in the Baghdad area. Using their civilian acquired skills and sapper ingenuity, the 1457th installed over 3,200 feet of suspension cable to stabilize the July 14th bridge and repair extensive exten-sive deck damage. The bridge now serves as a vital passageway for military and civilian traffic. Marich praised their protection for over 40 police stations, the Iraqi governing council's residences, the Russian and Turkish embassies, the Ministry of Oil facility and many other bases and facilities. "Their efforts have without a doubt saved lives as well as deterred attacks," said Marich He concluded, "The 1457th Engineers bring great credit to the state of Utah. Their professionalism professional-ism and performance exceeded all expectations. I hope that as they Kaa PmlMt nn A? I |