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Guard Members Deployed to Afghanistan

It was smiles and tears for more than 1,700 of New York's National Guard soldiers yesterday.

by Kathleen Horan

NEW YORK, NY January 17, 2008 —REPORTER: The Guard threw 9 different farewell parties across the state for the troops and their families.

Specialist Joseph Rolan posed for pictures and snacked with his family at the Armory in Manhattan.

A self-professed jokester, Rolan says he plans to use humor to keep his stress down while overseas.

ROLAN: It breaks the tension. A lot of times there will be a serious moment and everyone is like, "O.K., kinda thrown back a little bit" and someone cracks a joke and all of a sudden everyone is like, "OK, we're good.

REPORTER: The state's Guard soldiers officially begin combat duty today.

They'll spend 2 months training at Fort Bragg in North Carolina before heading to Afghanistan this spring to help train its security forces.


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