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Melodie Phelps News Editor In a moving and patriotic ceremony, the local community said farewell to members of Battery C last Tuesday evening. Near the end of the ceremony the large crowd gathered at the Wayne County gym rose to its feet and applauded the men from the local National Guard unit. The local unit departed Monticello early Saturday, November 20, headed to Fort Dix, New Jersey. They will remain there for several weeks training before deployment to the Persian Gulf. 1Lt. Shane Wall, who welcomed the crowd to last Tuesdayıs ceremony, noted that the unit will be deployed for approximately 18 months. The departure Saturday morning was very different from March 2003, when the local guard was activated for a two-month stint at Fort Campbell. On that morning, people lined the streets to wave farewell. Monticello Mayor Thurston Frye said that last Saturdayıs quiet departure was at the wishes of National Guard members and their families. Frye said he and other local officials were prepared to plan a send-off, even if it was at 4 a.m. Frye spoke at last weekıs send-off ceremony and he recalled standing in downtown Monticello as a youngster, when the local National Guard unit departed for Korea. ³That was January in 1950,² said Frye. ³I remember there was snow on the ground and it was cold.² ³The men marched down through town and they had their equipment,² he added. ³The crowds were standing on the street to say goodbye.² Frye pledged support to the members of Battery C while they are deployed. ³The community will stand behind you while you are gone,² he said. ³Weıll be there and we will help you any way we can.² Several officers with the Kentucky National Guard attended last weekıs ceremony, arriving on the Wayne County campus by helicopter. Members of Wayne Countyıs JROTC had worked throughout the afternoon to provide a helipad landing area for the Black Hawk helicopter. Brigadier General Norman E. Arflak, Deputy Commanding General, was among the members of the official party. During his remarks, Arflak told family and friends that the soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery are ³trained, equipped and prepared to undertake this mission.² Reader Comments Heather (1/8/2005) My fiance' is in the Guard and I am so very very proud of him for all that he is doing. We will all be here waiting for him and all those other wonderful men when they return home safe. To all of the troops " May god watch over you and bring you home safe and sound. Alive and willing to do whatever life brings to you" Thank you bye bye Cecil Gregory (11/24/2004) Would it be possible to print a roster of the unit? I would like to have made the Saturday morning send off. I am out of state but try to keep in touch. Thank you. /Cecil Add a comment |
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