HATTIESBURG — While some of its units were undergoing training for its mission in Iraq, many members of the 1-155th Combined Arms Battalion paid tribute to their fallen comrades Friday during pre-Memorial Day ceremonies at the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum at Camp Shelby.
The monument for the 155th Brigade Combat Team is one of many at the museum honoring the units that have trained at Camp Shelby during its 90 years as a training center.
The ceremony was the third annual event at the museum.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to pay tribute to those who have fallen in the defense our nation and the state of Mississippi,” the state’s adjutant general, Lt. Gen. William L. Freeman Jr., said during the ceremony. “The legacy of their courage and commitment will stay with us.”
For the men and women of the 1-155th, which heads to Iraq for a one-year deployment in June, that legacy is very real.
“The 155th was hit hard during its deployment in 2005,” said Lt. Col. Jeff Van, the 1-155th’s commander. “Many of the names on that monument are people a lot of us knew.”
Van said the ceremony and the 155th’s monument underlines the urgency of the unit’s training that it is undergoing at Camp Shelby, adding, “We are taking this training very seriously.”
He said the veterans from the 1-155th’s 2005 deployment have been working with younger soldiers and passing on the knowledge that they gained from their experience.
“It’s the reality of battle,” he said. “There’s a tremendous difference in watching combat in a movie versus being involved in the real thing.”
