Oregon Public Broadcasting

President Barack Obama signed an executive order Thursday to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center within a year.

At least five Oregon soldiers served at the detention facility.

Ethan Lindsey reports on how the move has been received in the state.

Lieutenant colonel Neal Conrad, from Albany, worked in operations at Guantanamo.

Lt. Col. Neal Conrad: “I went there expecting that one of my tasks would be to start writing the plan of how do we close Guantanamo. But I think the folks that are still there, are there for a reason.”

Conrad questions what will happen to the remaining 200 detainees.

A handful of Portland lawyers represent some of those prisoners.

Steve Wax is a federal public defender.

Steve Wax: “Our clients are being held as enemy combatants. We are waiting to see what position the Administration takes in those cases. But this is, in black and white, from the new president, that things are different.”

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs says closing the base within the next year will make the country safer and stronger.