On Tuesday, 600 relatives, friends and other well-wishers gathered at a Pennsylvania convention center to send off nearly 200 soldiers headed to Iraq.

Members of the 320th Military Police Battalion said their goodbyes to family and friends Tuesday in Wilkes Barre.

Among them soldier Jeremy Misen, a local man who is part of the military police battalion.

For many of the soldiers, the year of deployment is their first time overseas.