Red Bulls return to Winona - WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |

WINONA, Minn. (KTTC) -- Red Bull soldiers were welcomed home in Winona Tuesday afternoon.  Being one of  the last stops, the bus wasn't filled to the max, but the turnout was still impressive.

The Winona Fire Department raised the ladders on their trucks to hoist an American flag at Veterans Memorial Park on the lakeshore.  Then, the bus was escorted under the flag to the anxiously-awaiting friends and family.  The soldiers were deployed in Kuwait for roughly 11 months providing various assistance missions in the region.

However, the southeast Minnesota region one soldier calls home, is where his family has been waiting the entire time.  "I have very good support from the family," said Staff Sgt. Shane Rislove of Rushford. "Very, very good. I can't say enough. I wouldn't be able to do it without them."

This was Rislove's third time being deployed.  He says it gets harder to leave each time, but more enjoyable each time he returns.