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Alex (right) and Aaron Lare wave goodbye to their father, Staff Sgt. Jeff Lare, of Fredericksburg, of D Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry.
Approximately 330 soldiers will travel to Camp Shelby Mississippi for nearly three months of training.
Deanna Moses holds her boyfriend, Pfc. Donald Davis, as he gets ready to board a bus.
Dylan Cantlin, 3, hugs his father, Sgt. Bryan Cantlin of Woodbridge, as soldiers from the Virginia National Guard attend a deployment ceremony at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg yesterday.
Devonte Short wears the backpack of Sgt. Marvin Allen before a deployment ceremony yesterday. |
By RUSTY DENNEN
BLOG: Photographer Mike Morones shares the story behind this story in his blog.
Yesterday, the war in Iraq came home to Fredericksburg.
Under giant oak trees and among the stately buildings at the University of Mary Washington, soldiers in the Virginia Army National Guard and their families gathered.
The men and women in camouflage fatigues came to load up their gear and get final instructions; the families, the wives, toddlers and grandparents, to say their goodbyes.
After getting orders in April, Delta Company, 3rd Battalion 116th Infantry and Company F of the 429th Brigade Support Battalion spent the better part of the day at the campus for their official sendoff.
The soldiers will arrive at Camp Shelby, Miss., late today for two months of training, after which they will be flown to Kuwait, then to combat duty in Iraq.
The two companies, totaling about 330 soldiers, are assigned to the Fredericksburg National Guard Armory, but hail from all over the state.
Among them was Sgt. Declan Hickey, 33, of King George County, who served in the Marines, and then joined the Guard four years ago. He was a firefighter at Reagan National Airport who responded to the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.
As his daughters, Emma, 4, and Claudia, 6, sipped sodas under the watchful eyes of their mom, Angela, he steeled himself for the moment he would step on a bus and be gone for a year.
"Today is the toughest part, saying goodbye to everybody," he said.
They have been through this before. The couple were apart for two years while he was in the Marines.
Angela was already looking ahead: "I've got two girls here to keep me busy."
The university yesterday hosted the daylong departure ceremony, which featured games for the many children in tow, a picnic, and information booths for families with last-minute questions.
Spending some last moments together were Staff Sgt. Patrick Allen of Fredericksburg, his wife, Amy, and 6-month-old daughter Madelyn. "It's very sad he's going to be leaving for a year. He'll miss a lot of milestones in Madelyn's life," Amy said, adding, "I'm very proud of my husband. When I met him, he was in the military."
She knows what he'll be facing. She's an Army veteran with the 82nd Airborne who served in Afghanistan. Now she's the one staying behind and she'll have her hands full.
Not only with Madelyn. She's a first year nursing student at Germanna Community College. "I'm going to cry. I'll miss him," she says. But she'll have some company on lonely nights.
She smiles, "My big dog Sophie will be in bed with me."
Yesterday afternoon, Army, UMW and local dignitaries spoke to the soldiers and their families in Dodd Auditorium.
"UMW is the home of the Eagles, and I can't think of a more fitting locale to honor these men and women," Acting University President Richard V. Hurley told the crowd of about 1,000.
Fredericksburg Mayor Tom Tomzak noted that President Bush's surge strategy in Iraq is having an impact on local communities.
Across Virginia yesterday, 810 soldiers from five armories were mobilized.
Tomzak received some lusty applause from the troops with the remark: "You are taking it to the bad man in his back yard and thank you very much for that." And he added, "I have one request of you: Give 'em hell."
Outside, as the men and women in green assembled near the waiting buses, a little boy ran from his mother's arms.
"Daddy, wait! Daddy wait! Please. Just one more hug."
Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
