Rosemount Soldier Returns in Time for Thanksgiving

Digging into creamy mashed potatoes, turkey, green bean casserole and sharing lots of laughs are a few of the many activities that Sgt. George Leo Pendleton of Rosemount has to look forward to since returning from Iraq just in time for Thanksgiving. 

Pendleton, 40, serves as sergeant with the St. Cloud-based Company B, 2nd
General Support Aviation Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment, and was welcomed home by a good friend Wednesday at St. Cloud's Army Aviation Support Facility. During his drive home to Rosemount, he stopped at with his friend. 

"It's great. I just ate at Celts and had the best burger I've had in a year," Pendleton said. 

On Thanksgiving, he's looking forward to visiting his sister who lives in St. Paul with her family; he couldn't be more excited to see his niece and nephew. Pendleton also has another sister who lives in New York and a brother who lives in Tennessee; both have kids.

"I'm also going to stop by a couple of frends' [homes] ... and make my rounds with all my friends," Pendleton said. 

In addition, he has two sons: one who is serving in the Marine Corps in Virginia and another who is a high school senior in Indiana.

Pendleton left for Iraq on Nov. 27, 2010; this was his second deployment.

"We thought we'd be back just after Thanksgiving," he said. "But, everyone with Fort Hood and the state pushed for us to be back before the holiday." 

Fortunately for Pendleton, it will be at least three years before he will deploy again. During that time, he hopes to finish school studying aeronautical sciences and receive his Rotary Wing Pilot's License. 

During he and the rest of his regiment's mission, they transported personnel and material all over Iraq.

"We are glad to be home after completing a successful mission in supporting
the drawdown in Iraq," said Army Capt. Nathan A. Foster, commander for Company B, in a press release.

"The numbers speak for themselves," said Foster in the release. "We flew 800 missions, transported 49,500 personnel and more than 7 million pounds of cargo from locations in Iraq to Kuwait. Our fuelers pumped more than 1 million gallons of fuel." 

"We flew over 7,200 hours; we were very busy," Pendleton said. 

"Our six helicopters were well maintained as proven by having more flight hours per Chinook aircraft than any other Chinook company in Afghanistan and Iraq," Foster said in the release.

"It was a very good mission. I'm very proud of what we accomplished," Pendleton added. 

And what got Pendleton through his time in Iraq? 

"I was very mission-oriented. Each flight is very different and each has its own challenge. I always focused on the next mission."

And, he added that his favorite part about being in the military is "the camaraderie. You always have a brother or sister there no matter what's going on in life. If you're having issues, everyone helps out," Pendleton said.