Skyping a Soldier

We've covered their sendoff ceremonies, deployments, and homecomings... But now KX News is gettin...  More »

We've covered their sendoff ceremonies, deployments, and homecomings... But now KX News is getting even closer to our North Dakota soldiers... through technology. Tonight is our first interview with a North Dakota national guard member, currently serving overseas, in Kosovo. Prepare to meet Sgt. Matt Walstad from Bismarck, as we "skype with a soldier". "Between Bismarck and here? Well, there's a mountain outside which is kind of new to me." Born and raised in Bismarck... 22-year-old Matt Walstad has been in the National Guard for 5 years. (Sgt. Matt Walstad/Bismarck) "My job is, I go into towns and villages for the day and speak with people and build relationships." He is one of around 600 North Dakota national guard members leading a peace-keeping mission in Kosovo. (Walstad) "I go out everyday and talk to local people and it's amazing, I wasn't prepared for that myself, the amount of praise they give us on a daily basis is overwhelming." Sgt. Walstad says nearly two years of training for this deployment has helped him to better understand the history of the people and what they've gone through. (Walstad) "The people here they're so interesting and it's so easy to go out and talk to them, everybody's very welcoming and being part of U-N mission that we are, everybody's willing to hear about what we have to say and they know that we don't choose sides." They've been in Kosovo for around a month now and while he says he does miss his family and friends... he's not homesick yet. (Walstad) "It's weird, this deployment doesn't seem like anything else I've ever done and I've spoken to a lot of people who've deployed other places, and this one just isn't the same, it's been very easy." A few things probably make it easier... Including how tight-knit the North Dakota guard members are during the largest single deployment for the state in at least 50 years. (Walstad) "The group that I'm in and most of the groups here, being from North Dakota is we deployed as a group, I consider them my close friends and some of them are family, my brother is deployed with me.".... 26:30 "Everyone seems to be doing really well, the group that I'm in, just played in the flag football tournament against one of the other task force's, so it's something to do on and off here, our days are almost full but there's a lot going on." Whether it's about flag football, or cultural differences...It's become very easy for our soldiers to let people know what's going on... back home. (Walstad) "Internet in all of our rooms, we have the ability to get internet connection a lot of people using skype, that's been almost a lifesaver, everyone gets more than enough time to call back home and talk to their loved ones." And to us! For our interview with Sgt. Walstad, we end with a soldier shout-out. (Walstad) "My mom, Jean, my dad, John and Grandma Marie." We will be "skyping with a different soldier" every Sunday... They are around seven hours ahead of us in Bismarck.  « Less