This week I worked on a story about 50 Rogue Valley residents who are stationed in Iraq with the Oregon Army National Guard.

Mayor John Stromberg is staying in contact with the troops. 

That’s how he learned that it was 130 degrees in Tallil, Iraq this week, where the local troops are stationed.

At each City Council meeting, he gives an update on the conditions the soldiers are facing. 

Here’s a preview of the news story: 

In Iraq, where about 50 Oregon Army National Guard Troops from the Rogue Valley are stationed, temperatures have reached 130 degrees this week.

Mayor John Stromberg has been mindful of this, as he has been mindful of many of the details about the lives of the local soldiers stationed there since late July. 

After speaking to the troops at a deployment ceremony in Central Point in May, Stromberg realized he didn’t want to forget the local soldiers as they combed Iraq for roadside bombs and completed other missions as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“I pledged for the whole time they’re over there — and it’s going to be something like 10 months — that we would be mindful of them,” he said. 

Check the paper or the Tidings Web site on Saturday for the entire story. We also plan to print excerpts from e-mails sent from army commanders to Stromberg. To read a blog post the mayor wrote about the troops, click here.

—Hannah Guzik

Photos courtesy of Capt. Karl Haeckler and the Oregon Army National Guard.