Cornell honored local members of Delta Company, Second Battalion, 108th Infantry Division -- an Ithaca-area New York Army National Guard unit that deployed to a combat tour in Afghanistan in 2008 -- and their families at a special Freedom Salute ceremony, May 17 at Bailey Hall.

The unit, which returned to the United States about three months ago, helped train and mentor the Afghan National Army and National Police and provided additional reconstruction support.

The ceremony also included Cornell administrators, faculty and staff members and state and local elected officials. Freedom Salute not only recognized the soldiers of Delta Company who put themselves in harms way, but also their families and members of the community who supported them while they were deployed.