By Lori EhdeAs members of Luverne’s National Guard are settling into their duties in England, a few members of the unit have already found their way back home.Brock Thielbar, Hardwick, left home with the rest of Luverne’s 125th Field Artillery on Aug. 13 and has been training in Fort McCoy, Wis., for the past two weeks. He was due to board a plane for the United Kingdom on the morning of Aug. 28, but instead came back to Luverne that afternoon to be present for the birth of his twin sons on Friday.Levi Jaden, weighing in at 5 pounds, 5 ounces, was born at 7:17 a.m. Friday, and his twin brother Luke Joseph, weighing 5 pounds, 1 ounce, was born two minutes later.For Thielbar’s wife, Patti, having her husband at her side for the twins’ delivery and her recovery has been a blessing — one she knew she couldn’t count on."If he’d already been overseas, he wouldn’t have been able to come home," she said.With her friends and family members poised to help out, she was prepared to do it without him, but she said everything was better this way."This meant the moral support was there," she said. "He’s been real good about being here … all day and all night."It also meant that the twins’ big sister, 7-year-old Brooke, had daddy home, too.Patti was released from the hospital Tuesday, and the twins remain hospitalized until they get a little stronger.Brock was granted four days of emergency leave through the American Red Cross, and he took an additional four days of leave to be on hand for Patti and the babies."It just worked out really well," Patti said.Luverne’s Kurt Haugen also returned home on Friday, though his return all along was seen as a possibility.With Haugen’s role in the local Guard unit, he knew there was a chance he’d be held back to handle some duties at home. But it wouldn’t be known until after training in Fort McCoy whether or not he’d join his unit on the plane to the United Kingdom.This made things difficult to plan for at home."We’ll say our good-byes, but I won’t know if it’s good-bye for two weeks, or good-bye for six months," Julie Haugen said during the Aug. 11 deployment ceremony in Luverne.Since then, she and her children have been playing the waiting game."I talked to him Wednesday (Aug. 27) and he still didn’t know," Julie said. "I stayed home all Wednesday night waiting to hear from him, and I didn’t get a call. … The plane took off Thursday morning, and I didn’t know if he was on it or not."But that morning, she received flowers with a note attached, "See you this afternoon."When Kurt arrived home, they went together to pick up their children, Morgan, 5, and Jake, 4, from day care."Morgan just ran to him and cried in his arms," Julie said. "She didn’t know why she was crying, but I told her sometimes people cry when they’re very happy."At last word, local Guard members were told they’re going to England to serve six months as additional security officers. They could be doing things such as checking IDs and patrolling bases.There are 93 affected members in the local unit that includes Luverne and Pipestone. Of those, 55 serve duty at the National Guard Training and Community Center in Luverne.Twenty-three of those live in Rock County and 21 live in Nobles County.
