Families Say Goodbye to Soldiers

Soldiers from the 106th Brigade Support Battalion gathered for a send-off ceremony at Temple Baptist Church in Oak Grove.

The soldiers are part of the 155th Brigade Combat Team. The unit is made up of 3,400 soldiers.

The soldiers will spend a month training at Camp Shelby before the head to Iraq in June. They will stay in Iraq for a year. They will help guard military bases and assist convoys on their missions.

Families say going a year without family is very difficult.“I can’t lie and say I’m not a little nervous because you never know what’s going to happen, but I’m pretty comfortable with who I’m going with and what I’ve been taught to do,“ says Corporal Henry Williams.

Even the commander is having trouble leaving his children behind. “This is more difficult, I can tell you, but we’re looking forward to getting the mission on and doing what we need to do to come back and be with our families,“ says Captain Andy Thaggard.