'Come back safe'

Hundreds turn out to wish soldiers well on their way to Afghanistan

Mark Millican

Nancy Carter is not related to any of the Charlie Troop soldiers who begin the first leg of a deployment to Afghanistan this week. But there she stood Monday morning at the corner of Thornton Avenue and Crawford Street, American flag in hand and bundled up against a wind chill factor in the teens, awaiting the arrival of Dalton’s Georgia Army National Guard unit.

“I’m here because my son, Darrin Edmond, has been there and came back,” she said of his two tours to Iraq during Operation Desert Storm, “and because my first husband, Billy Edmond, didn’t come home from Vietnam.”

Members of the 108th Calvary are on their way to Mississippi today, where they will train for six weeks at Fort Shelby fine-tuning their civilian-oriented mission in Afghanistan, which is scheduled to start April 16. The deployment of the 84 soldiers in the reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition outfit is expected to last a year.

Former Marine David Blackburn arrived in a wheelchair to salute the soldiers, along with hundreds of others who stood waiting for their procession through downtown.

“I’m here to support our troops,” he said, “and my son (Navy) petty officer Matthew Blackburn, who has been to Iraq twice.”

Minnie Chastain said she was “here for (Guardsman) Daniel Roberts because I love him and I’m proud of him — and I’m doing it for the other soldiers.”

At the downtown intersection where the final turn toward the armory was made, most well-wishers probably didn’t know any of the “Charlie Cobra” members, since many of the soldiers who attend weekend drills and other training are from out of town. Still, citizens were glad to show their patriotism in the bracing cold, including dozens of children from City Park School with red, white and blue posters and hats — all to show the departing servicemen and their families they were there to support them.

“I’m here to show how much we care about them,” said Kathy Dial, who quickly became tearful, “and to let them know I’m keeping them in my prayers, that they’ll come back safely. I pray that God will keep each and every one safe.”

Earlier in the morning, the Guardsmen and their families gathered at First Presbyterian Church for a spiritual service, hearing several speakers pledge their support and offer encouragement from their own experiences while serving in the military.

“You follow in a great tradition of service to this country,” said an emotional Tyson Haynes, a veteran and the mayor of Chatsworth. “For family members, there will be a lot of tears, but these soldiers have the core values to see them through this. Gen. (George) Patton asked one of his commanders (in World War II), ‘Where do you get such fine young men?’ I would have told them they come from communities like Dalton and Chatsworth.”

Dalton Mayor David Pennington told the men they “volunteered” their entire families to public service by the commitment they’d made to serve their country.

“We’re proud of the honor you bring to our community,” he said.

At the armory, where Guardsmen and their families had lunch and posed for photos, Pvt. Richard Hancock said he was “excited and anxious” to begin the deployment.

“I’m excited about the coming home part,” he said, “and I’m anxious to get over there and see what it’s like and to have that experience.”

Staff Sgt. Mac McCrary is on his fourth deployment, having been to Iraq, Afghanistan and Central America. He said the huge show of support “means a lot.”

“To see the community standing behind us and to know the people back home care is very important to the soldiers,” he said. “Midway through the deployment is when it really hits and people start getting homesick, so you really need those words from home to keep you going.”

Rick Brown of Operation Uplift, a local military support organization, helped plan the sendoff.

“It was absolutely 150 percent perfect,” he said. “The Patriot Guard Riders (motorcycle group, www.patriotguard.org), who have shown a lot of respect for our fallen military men, told me they have been to a lot of these and that ours was the best they’ve seen.”