ROCKY MOUNT, Va. – The Capitol insurrection earlier this year is a day most Americans will never forget.
Saturday morning, Sen. Tim Kaine honored the Rocky Mount unit of guardsmen and women for their efforts after the riot on January 6.
Kaine recognized the soldiers who quickly left their families to defend the nation’s Capitol by calling out 63 names and asking them to rise.
Kaine recounted that day and said he will forever be grateful for the guardsmen and women’s service.
“It was a day I never would have imagined,” he said. “It was a day that I never will forget. It was a day that should never be repeated.”
It was a day Captain Justin Furtek, the commander for 229th Chemical Company, will always remember too.
“You train for it to happen but you hope it never does,” Furtek said. “But when it does you are ready to go. I couldn’t be more proud of my soldiers, every single one of them. They stopped what they were doing and they showed up.”
Over the past year, these soldiers have played a key role in the pandemic.
In March 2020, 50 soldiers were deployed to administer more than 100,000 COVID-19 tests.
Kaine said he feels a deeper appreciation for this effort since it helped his family.
“It’s guardsmen and women like these who tested my parents, my in-laws in nursing homes,” Kaine said. “They’re 97 and 95 and very confused about what’s going on. But compassionate and efficient service in a very tough year.”
Soldiers continue to fight on the frontlines of the pandemic by distributing food to hundreds of struggling families and joining vaccination distribution efforts.
It’s a job that is keeping them busy in what Furtek calls one of the most challenging years.
“This is supposed to be a part-time job, right? One weekend a month, two weeks a year,” he said. “And especially in this company, that’s not what happens.”
The unit received 176 awards, medals and honors for their accomplished missions.