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Jeff Miller
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 22 Nov 2001
Posts: 23947
Location: Mental Ward for the Mentaly Unstable 6th floor, Saint John's 1615 Delaware Longview Washington 98632
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 Tue Nov 18, 2003 3:16 pm Longview snaps to attention |
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| Quote: | LV snaps to attention
By Hope Anderson and Randi Rice
Nov 18, 2003 - 08:28:36 am PST
Billowing gusts of wind and pelting rain didn't deter crowds from lining the streets in downtown Longview Monday night to give 87 local National Guardsmen on their way to Iraq a farewell and a show of support.
The troops, along with two high school bands and a batch of war veterans and Boy Scouts, marched in the only send-off parade hosted in the state since the war in Iraq began, to the parade organizers' knowledge.
"Holy smokes, I didn't think there'd be that many," said Platoon Sgt. Allen Campbell of Amboy, looking around at the surging crowd in the Longview Armory after the parade. "That's what we do what we do ... It's beautiful."
Families, friends and supporters came from as far as Seattle and Washougal. One Guardsman's sister flew in from Mississippi to join the crowd waving flags, wearing signs reading, "We love you," and stamping their feet in the 50-degree temperature.
"We are proud of you," chanted the crowd along the parade route starting from Bud Clary's on Commerce Avenue and ending at the Longview Armory on Vandercook Way.
Supporter Scott Teach of Longview, said the parade touched him because "everyone sticking together and supporting them (National Guardsmen), as a town and as a society."
The Longview-based combat unit, Battery C, 2/146th Field Artillery, has been mobilized along with the Washington State National Guard's 81st Enhanced Armor Brigade, in the largest deployment of Washington service personnel since World War II.
The Guardsmen, including about four dozen men from Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties, report for duty Thursday, and they could be gone until the summer of 2005 with training and de-mobilization.
"Thank you, guys," shouted Suzie Cowan of Longview, waving a flag as the unit of black bereted men marched down Vandercook Way. Cowan was there to cheer on her son-in-law Randy Ezukameow, 35, of Longview, who is a rifleman with the unit.
"This is our chance to say good-bye," Cowan said. Ezukameow's children were also there for him, Katie, 2 1/2, and Nicholas, 5.
He likely will miss his son's first day of kindergarten next year if the troops stay as long as planned, said Randy's brother-in-law Derk Cowan.
The parade organizer, Pat Rankin, a former Longview police officer, said he spearheaded the event because he didn't want a repeat of the Vietnam War.
"They threw things at you when you left, and they threw things at you when you came back," he said. "I never want that to happen again."
Back at the parade's destination point, the Guardsmen marched through a friendly gauntlet that had the energy of a sporting event with hollering, clapping and brandishing of flags. Crowds of supporters surged into the Armory for refreshments, speeches and hugs and handshakes all around.
Afterward, families and friends gathered in knots around the Guardsmen.
Tears gathered in Longview Guardsman Brian Martin's eyes as supporters shook his hand, clapped him on the back and gave him advice and words of encouragement: "Keep your head down" and "We'll be sending up prayers for you."
Martin has served in the National Guard for seven years, and he said he was impressed by the outpouring of support.
"It makes me feel proud to see the community come together like this," he said. "It touches the heart."
Supporters gave encouragement to the troops despite some fears for the Guardsmen's safety.
"I'm completely freaked out," said Katie Bliss, wife of David Bliss, who is headed to Iraq as a cannon operator. They live near the Bonneville Dam.
"He is going into a hot zone," she said.
Still, she and many of Bliss's family members showed up Monday to send him off.
"I love my husband whatever he does," she said, while trying to entertain the couple's two children Skyla, 7 and Leather, 2 as they waited for Dad to march by.
"He's got to do what he's got to do," said his mother Renee Eldred from Camas. "We have to finish the job (in Iraq)."
Katie Bliss said her biggest fear is that her young son won't remember his dad when he returns in 18 months. Last weekend they celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas in case he wasn't able to be there with them.
She said she hasn't smoked so much in her life since he was sent for training.
Guardsman Josh Albright, 31, of Vancouver, gathered his 4-month-old in his arms at the Longview Armory.
His wife, Sung-Ja, said although she struggled with his leaving, she was proud of him.
Their son, Dylan, will be almost a 3-year-old by the time he returns.
"He's going to miss the first steps, the first words, the falling," said Sung Ja, 26.
She said she's worried for her husband's safety, but "I don't ever let him know. He needs to know that I support him fully." |
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| Quote: | | First Sgt. Mike Simmons of Independence, Ore., barks a command at local National Guardsmen as they march down Vandercook Way in a parade in their honor as they prepare to deploy to Iraq. |
Its amazing what a comunity would brave to see their troops leave 
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Josi Rockholt
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 29 Dec 2001
Posts: 10136
Location: Boston, Ma
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| Tue Nov 18, 2003 3:45 pm |
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That was nice of Longview to do.
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