Twelve Minnesota National Guard soldiers arrived home Saturday after a one-year deployment in Afghanistan. With Father's Day Sunday, Army Maj. John P. Wisniewski says the reunion with their families in Roseville will be extra special since nine of the 12 soldiers are dads.

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann spent the weekend with Minnesota soldiers in Afghanistan, learning more about the draw-down of troops planned there. Bachmann, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, met the the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. She plans to provide more details Monday.

A 21-year-old Marine from the north metro who got married in March was killed in combat Wednesday in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said Thursday. Cpl. Taylor J. Baune, 21, of Andover, Minn., died in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Just three weeks after President Barack Obama said all troops would be out of Afghanistan by 2014, friends and family said goodbye to members to 124 members of the 257th Military Police Company in Monticello Wednesday.

Nearly three dozen members of the Minnesota National Guard's 133rd Airlift Wing are being deployed for six months. They'll focus on building infrastructure and communication lines.