Below are excerpts of an interview with Denny Harlan, a plant manager for Wildman Business Group, Warsaw, IN. Harlan spent 26 years in the U.S. Army National Guard, including a tour at the start of the Iraq War in 2003.

Can you tell us a little about your military background?

I enlisted in the Army National Guard as a junior in high school. I was an 11B (Infantryman) for the first 13 years of my career. In late 2002 our unit was given orders to start preparing for a mobilization. We ended up in Kuwait in January of 2003 ...