Oklahoma's National Guard troops begin returning home from Louisiana

They were some of the first soldiers to arrive in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and now, they're back home in Oklahoma. <br/><br/>News on 6 anchor Scott Thompson says the 279th Infantry of

Tuesday, October 4th 2005, 12:40 pm

By: News On 6

They were some of the first soldiers to arrive in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and now, they're back home in Oklahoma.

News on 6 anchor Scott Thompson says the 279th Infantry of the Oklahoma Army National Guard had some of the first boots on the ground at the Louisiana Superdome on August 30th.

Tuesday, their long convoy arrived back at the Sand Springs Armory. A number of family members were on-hand to provide a warm welcome.

The Oklahoma soldiers helped with evacuations, search and rescue missions and security patrols while they were in New Orleans. Staff Sgt Donovan Bell: "We did a lot of securities, many rescues, located several individuals that didn't make it through the storm.â€

There remain about a thousand Oklahoma National Guardsmen in Louisiana, but all of them are due home by the end of the week.