Illinois Helicopter, Crew Return from South Dakota Flood Mission

SPRINGFIELD, IL (06/13/2011)(readMedia)-- The Illinois National Guard's CH-47 Chinook helicopter and five crew members assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 238th Aviation Regiment based in Peoria will return from South Dakota where they have helped battle flood waters since June 3.

The crew members from Bartonville, Chatham, Easton, Elgin and Murphysboro lifted and placed nearly two million pounds of sand and sandbags along the Missouri river near Sioux City, Iowa.

They assisted approximately 1,000 South Dakota National Guard Soldiers and Airmen that have been battling flood waters in the upper plains state since late May. The South Dakota National Guard requested the Chinook and crew through the National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C. and will assume all of the cost related to the mission.

Soldiers from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 238th Aviation were also among the 550 Illinois National Guard Soldiers and Airmen who helped to battle the floods in southern Illinois in April and May of this year.

For more information contact the Illinois National Guard Public Affairs Office at 217-761-3569 or at ngilstaffpao@ng.army.mil.