Returns to U.S.

Army National Guard Sgt. Jason E. Unger has returned to the U.S. after being deployed overseas at a forward operating base in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Operation Iraqi Freedom is the official name given to military operations involving members of the U.S. armed forces and coalition forces participating in efforts to free and secure Iraq. Mission objectives focus on force protection, peacekeeping, stabilization, security and counter-insurgency operations as the Iraqi transitional governing bodies assume full sovereign powers to govern the peoples of Iraq.

Members from all branches of the U.S. military and multinational forces are also assisting in rebuilding Iraq's economic and governmental infrastructure, and training and preparing Iraqi military and security forces to assume full authority and responsibility in defending and preserving Iraq's sovereignty and independence as a democracy.

Unger, a healthcare specialist (combat medic), is a member of B Company, 112th Infantry, based in Cambridge Springs, Pa. He has served in the military for 16 years.

He is the son of Samual E. and Sarah M. Unger of Colmar Court, Slatington.

The sergeant is a 1992 graduate of Northern Lehigh High School, Slatington.