WEST POINT — Lt. Col. Michael Cleveland stared into the sea of faces at the West Point High School gymnasium, searching for the three he holds most dear. There, on the left, near the top of the bleachers — his wife, Shannon Cleveland, and their two daughters, Hannah and Sierra.
He paused at the podium and struggled to gain control. His voice shook anyway as he spoke: “Not a day will go by that I will not think of you.”
As commander for the U.S. Army National Guard’s 223rd Engineer Battalion of West Point, Cleveland is responsible for each of the battalion’s 600 assigned soldiers, including the 70 men and women from the West Point unit who are being deployed to Afghanistan this week to serve in Operation Enduring Freedom.
The job ahead is not an easy one, and their safety is not something he takes lightly, Cleveland told families Saturday afternoon during a community send-off.
They are “the best-trained and best-equipped this nation has to offer,” he said of the group, which is tasked with detecting and neutralizing explosive hazards as part of route clearance. While their mission is considered “critical,” he assured families that he will not ask their loved ones to take any risks he would not take himself.
Approximately 17,000 troops have been deployed from Mississippi since the Sept. 11 attacks, and the 223rd Engineer Battalion was one of the first units in the state to serve in Iraq, said Major Gen. William Freeman Jr., adjutant general for Mississippi. The battalion was sent to Iraq in January 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Lora Merriman’s brother, Staff Sgt. Erik Puder, went to Iraq with them.
Saturday, as she watched him prepare to leave on his fourth tour in six years, she tried not to think about what lies ahead. She understands why he has to go, but she knows it’s not just something her brother does, it’s who he is.
“He’s always been there, not just for people he knows, but for anybody,” Merriman said, looking down at her five-month-old twins as they quietly sat in their double baby stroller and watched their uncle. “That’s just his character. He’s a good guy.”
The ceremony was particularly somber for some of the children, a few of whom burst into tears at the conclusion, but it was not without its lighter moments.
Many laughed when Brig. Gen. Johnny Sellers, commander of the 168th Engineer Brigade of Vicksburg, encouraged the unit to “kick proverbial rear end.”
“We’re going to take care of them,” Sellers told the families. “… They belong to us for a year, but we’re going to bring them back to you.”
The unit has deep roots in West Point, with its origins dating back to 1924 as an infantry company. In 1954, the battalion headquarters was deactivated and reassigned, first to Monticello, then to Mendenhall. Later in the year, personnel were reassigned to West Point as the 223rd Engineer Aviation Battalion. Three years later, the unit was redesigned as the 223rd Engineer Battalion (Heavy Construction), and in 2006 it was reorganized once more, adding a Sapper mission to its historical construction mission.
Throughout the changes, one thing has remained the same — the unit’s dedication to both national and state defense.
Shortly after returning from their 2003 tour in Iraq, the soldiers mobilized to aid in search and rescue following Hurricane Katrina’s destruction along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
They have helped build practice football fields at Mississippi State University and the Boy Scout Camp near Cedar Bluff. They have served humanitarian aid missions in England, Panama, Italy, Barbados, South Korea and Germany. Recently, they participated in Operation New Horizons, refurbishing schools and medical facilities in Jamaica and Honduras.
“They are heroes,” Freeman told the crowd.
The unit will travel to Fort Bliss, Texas next week for post-mobilization training before heading to Afghanistan.
In addition to the 70 soldiers leaving from West Point, 90 members of the 223rd Engineer Battalion Forward Support Company, based in Aberdeen, and 90 soldiers with the 288th Engineer Company (Sapper), of Houston, will also be deployed.
A send-off ceremony was held for the Houston unit Saturday morning in front of the Houston Courthouse.
A send-off ceremony will be held for the Aberdeen unit this afternoon at 1 p.m. at the Aberdeen American Legion building on Highway 145.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.