The 114th Transportation Company with about 140 soldiers will leave for Afghanistan in the middle of December 2013. The unit is in Duluth and Chisholm, Minn. It was a long drive to say goodbye to these brave soldiers from all over the state of Minnesota.

I am not going to Afghanistan. The best part of me is my son, Travis. This will be most of these soldiers’ third deployment. They will not complain. Many tears were shed. These soldiers have young children and wives. I hope the President and our politicians never forget the sacrifice our soldiers and families will endure for the next 12 months. It will be a very long year.

I could write endless sentences about these soldiers. I am writing this to let everyone know freedom is not free. I want to say thank you to all the veterans who know how I feel. It will be an honor to be a veteran on this happy Veterans Day.

God bless the USA!

Todd Bergland, Austin