...with some of these other countries including Kuwait because they have not had the exposure we've had," said Maj. Mike Pazdernik, 1/34 BCT training officer. The Kuwait National Guard employs several interpreters and American contractors to...

Capt. Mike Pazdernik, company commander of the Minnesota Army National Guard soldiers in Company A, 1st Battalion, 194th Armor stationed near Baghdad...

Clad in desert camouflage, Capt. Mike Pazdernik said he sees heroes daily in the combat zone of Iraq and again in a small room in Brainerd. Photos Back | Next Back | Next Pazdernik...

For area soldiers stationed in Iraq, Capt. Mike Pazdernik said the last month has often felt more like one long day. Photos And most recent, it was punctuated by violence that hit close...

"There is good going on in that awful place we just left." -Capt. Mike Pazdernik, Company A, 1st Battalion, 194th Armor company commander.

"I'm surrounded by heroes every day and those heroes are your soldiers." --Capt. Mike Pazdernik, company commander with 152 Minnesota Army National Guard soldiers in Company A, 1st Battalion, 194th Armor.

"In some ways it is hard to believe we are so very close to coming home," Capt. Mike Pazdernik wrote in a recent e-mail from Iraq. "Many of the days and weeks here have been long and difficult. Still, the months seem...

"We get the feeling we've been gone for so long and still have so far to go." --Capt. Mike Pazdernik, company commander, Company A, 1st Battalion, 194th Armor whose National Guard troops are on an 18-month deployment in Iraq.

...Photos Back | Next Back | Next Back | Next Capt. Mike Pazdernik handed over a Minnesota flag to Gov. Tim Pawlenty...On Thursday, Pazdernik delivered both. Capt. Mike Pazdernik talked to his soldiers as well as their families...

...soldiers in Iraq are serving in 120-degree heat these days and are about halfway through their deployment. Capt. Mike Pazdernik, commander of Company A, 1st Battalion, 194th Armor, said in an e-mail from Iraq that those temperatures have...