La Grange police officer Steven Kneifel takes his pledge to serve and protect so seriously it transcends borders, oceans and even continents.

Kneifel will celebrate his 40th birthday in February, but it won’t be at home in La Grange with his family. Instead, he will be serving with his National Guard unit in Afghanistan.

On Oct. 30, fellow officers threw Kneifel a farewell party. His wife, his colleagues and members of the American Legion Robert E. Coulter Jr. Post 1941 of La Grange attended.

On Saturday, Nov. 8, U.S. Army Sgt. Kneifel said good-bye to his wife, Maggie Reif, and their child, his five children from a previous marriage, friends, family and his colleagues before joining his unit, 2/238 Aviation Co. in Peoria. He heads for Fort Sill, Okla., Wednesday, Nov. 12. Kneifel will be home for Christmas, then he will head back to Fort Sill before his unit is deployed to Afghanistan in January for a 12-month tour of duty.

A door gunner on a CH47 Chinook helicopter, Kneifel will be escorting convoys, serving on rescue missions and insertions, and shuttling supplies and fuel to troops in their combat zones.
He is no stranger to leaving the civilian world behind.

In 1991, he served with an Air National Guard Unit in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm.

Kneifel, who has 13 years in the National Guard, said he got the word about his deployment about two months ago. He had no regrets about his service to his country, with the exception of being separated from those he loves.

“The hardest part of all of this is leaving the family,” he said. “It’s hard on my wife and the kids not being there.”

Reif said for her part, she is going to keep focused on the day when he returns.

La Grange Police Chief Michael Holub, a Vietnam-era U.S. Army veteran, said he was proud of his police officers who have served in the past.

“We have to let them go and let them come back, and we have to do whatever we can for this family,” he said. “Everybody here shares a little in the void.”