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REFLECTION: Bravo Battery, 1/117th Field Artillery War Send - Off
This
will not be sugar coated nor should it be! The time is noon. The
date is October 16, 2005. The place is the Kiwanis Center, Andalusia,
AL, and the occasion is the send-off to war of Bravo Battery, 1/117th Field
Artillery.
It has been a long time since I
witnessed a “going off to war.” It is something that every American
should experience at least once. It is something I will never get used
to. Fittingly, the American flag was standing out almost straight as a
ten mile per hour breeze blew in from the north. There was not a cloud
in the sky.
The 141 soldiers of Bravo Battery and
their families were at the Kiwanis Center parking lot waiting on three huge
white buses to pick up the soldiers and take them back to Camp Atterbury,
IN. From there they will go to and fly from Fort Campbell, KY, to
Kuwait where they will stay several weeks. Then, they will go on to
Iraq and war!
The entire parking area was filled with
a variety of parked vehicles. In a bizarre sort of a way, the scene
resembled tailgating before a college football game; but the atmosphere was
anything but festive. You see! Each soldier was about to be
separated from his family and loved ones for a minimum of one year or
longer. The soldiers were wearing the new (ACU) Army Combat Uniform
which is wrinkle-free with a digitized camouflage pattern. Each
soldier was surrounded by family and friends.
Suddenly at 12:20 PM - as if appearing
almost out of nowhere - three large, long buses were in the parking lot.
One lady sitting on the back of a pickup truck yelled: “Go away buses.”
In unison, two small children near me started crying. Sobs could be
heard over the entire parking lot.
The soldiers formed up by platoons –
each to a bus. This took a few minutes. Then, they were
“released” back to their loved ones for five minutes to say their final
goodbyes. One soldier held his one year old daughter while he kissed
his wife goodbye. Another young wife ran across the parking lot
sobbing. She had just hugged and kissed her husband goodbye. In
an instant the five minutes was up, the soldiers boarded the buses in
military fashion; and they were gone!
Freedom is not free! These
soldiers and their families paid a price for you and me on this day.
Now, we have an obligation to them. Write to the soldiers and thank
them for your freedom. Contact their families and loved ones and be
there for them constantly while their soldiers are gone. Pray for them
unceasingly!
Families! If you need assistance,
telephone me or First Baptist Church Missions Committee – Andalusia:
334.222.5152. We will help you or find somebody who can!
God Bless You all,
and God Speed!
John B. Givhan
1009 Stratford Ct
Andalusia, AL 36420
ol_copter_pilot120@yahoo.com
www.ltpegleg.honorusheroes.org
334.488.1248
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2005
- 2009 MWSA