There was a terrible fight going on “, impressions of young American soldiers coming to Kosovo

More than 100 members of the Colorado National Guard are saying goodbye to their families as they prepare to settle in Kosovo.

Soldiers from the 135th Aviation Regiment were honoured at a farewell ceremony Thursday afternoon at the Buckley Air Force base in Aurora, reports “KDVR”, broadcast news.net.

About 130 soldiers will spend next year in Kosovo, exercising air strikes, evacuation of victims and combat support along with NATO forces.

They will also assist local authorities during the upcoming fire season in that part of Europe.

It may sound like a peaceful settlement, but the heads of the Colorado National Guard reminded soldiers that the Balkans could be a hot spot.

There's been a pretty bad war there and there's still a lot of mines there. People get hurt. People get sick. So we'll do operations 24/7 while we're there”, said Lt. Colonel Kenneth Wash.

“I've never been abroad before, so it will be a new experience of entertainment,” said 23-year-old Kelley Bowers from Aurora.

Others in the group are veterans with different commitments, broadcast news.net.

I've been in Afghanistan for six months and then I've been able to be home with my family for maybe about 40 days. And, now we are going to Kosovo for 11 months,” said Stanton Walker from Cedarridge, who thanks his supportive wife for allowing him to participate in the operation.

This is what you see in military people. We always know someone who has done more than us, so we always feel like there's more we can do,” said Captain Rob Bingham, a commander of one of the units that will operate in Kosovo.

And they're always willing to do that.

We are there in the interest of our national security. We'll be back more readily than we've ever been. And, we're going back to safe” said Wash.