Ten members of the Irish Regiment of Canada were officially welcomed home to Greater Sudbury Saturday afternoon, at the Sudbury Armoury on Riverside Dr.
They were fresh from the war zone in Afghanistan from the Canadian Forces base in Kandahar.
Currently 2,500 members of the Canadian Forces are serving as part of Joint Task Force Afghanistan.
Returning to Greater Sudbury include: Major Robert Orfankos, serving at headquarters for the Chief of Staff; Capt. William Lucia, returning from his second tour as Operations Staff Officer;Master Corporal Jonathan Barry who served from June to December 2006 at Kandahar Airfield; Master Corporal Neil Roberts who served with the Defense and Security Platoon in 2004 and 2005; and Corporal Heather Brown who served from August 2006 to March 2007 as contracts clerk in Kandahar.
In addition, Corporal Spencer Curry, who joined the reserves in 1996, served from June to December 2006 on camp security in Kandahar and plans on joining the regular force. Also serving on camp security until March was CPL Tyler Goulais who joined the reserves in 2004.
Corporal William Kerr, who joined the reserves in 2003, served from Aug. 06 to March as RG 31 driver. He faced two Taliban bomb attacks while ferrying equipment on dangerous roads to Canadian Forces outposts, sometimes 200 miles from base. He is father of two daughters, 3 and 7.
Corporal Joseph Paolini joined the reserves in 2002, serving from Aug. 06 to March 07 in 1 RCR Battle Group as a Grenadier.
Lt.-Colonel John Valtonen welcomed the returning soldiers and commended them on their service to their country and Afghanistan.
