Afghanistan

The Minnesota stepfather of one of the seven Americans killed in a cargo plane crash in Afghanistan says his son knew the risks of his job and was happy to volunteer. Jeremy Lipka, formerly of Pine Island, was one of the two pilots and five other cargo plane workers killed Monday when their National Air Cargo plane crashed near an Air Force base in Afghanistan.

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Soldiers returned to their families in Monticello after a year in Afghanistan.

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Around 50 National Guard Soldiers, joined by family, friends and officials, were honored in a deployment ceremony in St. Cloud on Friday morning.

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A 21-year-old Marine from Minnesota has died in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense said Thursday that Cpl. Taylor J. Baune, of Andover, died in combat Wednesday in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

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After nearly nine years, the war in Iraq has been formally shut down. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other U.S. officials took part in a Baghdad ceremony today retiring the flag of U.S. Forces-Iraq.

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The 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan quietly came and went last week. It's the longest conflict ever for the United States. Soldiers from the Minnesota National Guard have been called on to help fight in the war since May of 2004.

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Seventeen soldiers who have been serving in Afghanistan for the past 10 months are scheduled to return to Minnesota. The troops are members of the U.S. Army Reserve's 309th Engineering Company.

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A Minnesota Marine from near Buffalo died Tuesday while conducting combat operations in Helmand Province of Afghanistan.

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Sartell City Councilman David Peterson is heading back overseas with the Minnesota Army National Guard. Peterson, who's a captain in the National Guard, says he's being deployed for the second time in three years - this time to serve a seven-month stint in Afghanistan.

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