THANK GOODNESS FOR LOCAL COVERAGE

Alabamians can take pride in the accomplishments of the Alabama National Guard's 214th Military Police Company based in Alexander City, which started arriving home Saturday after spending a year patroling the streets of Baghdad and training about 3,000 Iraqis to take their place...

While a handful of members of a different U.S. military police unit may have acted in ways that embarrassed their nation, statements of members of the 214th made it clear that these Alabama soldiers knew why they were in Iraq.

"We played a major role in establishing the first Baghdad Police Academy. We succeeded there and we handed it off to others up and running. We graduated three classes of police officers, with 1,000 to 1,500 in each class," said Sgt. Frederick White of Alexander City.

White said said that being away from his family was difficult, but it helped to know they were involved in a meaningful mission.