As the soldiers of Alpha Battery 2-114 Strike Battalion piled into the bus which would take them to Camp Shelby on their way to Iraq, the members of the Patriot Guard Riders revved the engines of their motorcycles.
The six or so bikers had the honor of escorting the soldiers away from the Columbus U.S. Army National Guard Armory and outside the city limits.
Sitting astride one of the motorcycles was Robert Townsend, of Jackson. Townsend isn”t a member of the Riders, but he was asked to ride as a guest of the crew. Robert Townsend”s son, Spc. Robert G. Townsend, is one of the men heading overseas to war.
The elder Townsend said he hopped on his chopper Friday morning and rode north so he could be in Columbus to see his son off.
“Proud,” is the only word the man could get out of his lips when the subject of his child was put on the table. And betraying the tough exterior of the career biker, a tear rolled from behind the reflective lenses of his sunglasses and down his sunburned cheek.
“I was diagnosed with leukemia,” he said. “And I don”t know if I”m going to be alive to see him when he gets back.”
Townsend then fired the throttle, and he and the rest of the Riders zoomed down the road with the busload of soldiers hot on their trail.
It was a morning of one more hug, one more kiss and one more goodbye as friends, family and patriotic members of the community gathered at the Columbus Armory located near Highway 69 South to say farewell to the soldiers of the 114th.
Sgt. Cataurus Shields and his wife, Janie, stood next to one another as the minutes ticked down until the moment they would be separated for an entire year.
“I”m scared and I”m sad, but mostly I”m proud he”s willing to lay down his life for his country,” said Janie Shields. “But I”m very, very sad to see him go.”
Cataurus Shields, who first went to war when the battalion was activated and sent to Iraq in 2005, appreciated the community support.
“This is awesome,” he said, of the number of people who turned up to see them on their way. “There really aren”t a lot of soldiers here, but you can look around and see 10 people for every soldier. The support is really incredible.”
Also standing in support of the battalion was Sara Hollis, mother of Conrad Hollis, who was murdered in Tuscaloosa, Ala., after he returned from a tour of duty in Iraq with the 114th.
“It was time for me to come out and support these guys,” she said. “This is a family. They are in our prayers and thoughts as they go overseas, and I know Conrad will be their guardian angel.”
Standing with Hollis was Spc. Art White, his mother, Paulett White, and his girlfriend, Danielle Dyer.
“I feel a little bit of everything right now,” said Art White. “Nervous, scared, happy, I don”t know. I”m ready to get over there and get it done.”
White”s mother gushed with praise for her son and said she would be spending the next year praying for his safe return.
“He”s never been away from me,” said Paulett White. “For your child to go to war, it”s a feeling nobody except a mother can have. And although he”s grown up and a man, he”s still my child. I”m so proud of him I don”t know what to do, but I can”t stand the thought of him going to war and something bad happening to him.”
Spc. Nicholas McCullough stood with his family and was all smiles as he got ready to go.
“I”m hanging in there; it”s my first deployment,” he said. “I”m just ready to come home.”
“He”s ready to come home before he leaves,” said his mother, Greta McCullough.
The unit will spend between 30 and 40 days at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, after which the group will be sent to northern Iraq to take part in sustainment operations. They will be in country for about a year.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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