MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - More than 140 soldiers with the Minnesota National Guard are home for Christmas.

The Cambridge-based 850th Horizontal Engineers Company returned from building roads and clearing mines over the last eight months in Afghanistan.

Family and friends gathered Sunday at Cambridge-Isanti High School on Sunday to welcome them home.

The soldiers hail from about 100 towns in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

First Sgt. Jeffry Taylor says the company had no casualties or serious injuries, although one soldier suffered a concussion after an explosive device went off near his armored vehicle.

He says their company often was shelled with mortars or fired upon. Accompanying infantry or cavalry units provided protection and dealt with the Afghan rebel attackers.

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