In December 1990, 3-year-old Garrett Johnston got his first exposure to the 1-155th.
His picture was on the front page of the Enterprise-Journal waving a flag as the then-155th Mechanized Infantry passed along Delaware Avenue on its way to Camp Shelby and then to Fort Hood, Texas, as part of the call-up for Operation Desert Shield.
Nineteen years later, Johnston was dressed in camouflage fatigues and riding shotgun in the unit’s command Humvee leading the 1-155th through town en route to Camp Shelby for training before going to Joint Base Balad, Iraq. The deployment is the first for Johnson and Pfc. Ronald Temple, the Humvee’s driver.
“I had a stocking cap on my head,” Johnston said, remembering the picture, adding that the photo has had a unique influence on his life.
“I was thinking about what I was going to do, and I was considering the military,” he said as the Humvee rolled on West Avenue toward Delaware. “I looked at the picture, and I realized that this (the National Guard) was where I was meant to be.”
Residents lined Delaware Avenue, South Broadway and Highway 98 East to the outskirts of town to wish the 1-155th Godspeed and good luck.
But before Johnston and Pfc. Ronald Temple, the Humvee’s driver, met the crowd, they joined their comrades in a private program for the troops and their families.
“These are the guys who pay the price so we can sleep well,” state adjutant general Maj. Gen. William L. Freeman Jr. said of the soldiers. “You are part of a proud heritage that goes back to 1798.”
Lt. Col. Jeff Van, commander of the 1-155th, said the unit’s parade was one of 13 going on across Mississippi as elements of the 1-155th left their cities for Camp Shelby near Hattiesburg.
“The threat in Iraq is real,” Van said. “You can bet this unit’s going to do a good job while it’s over there. We’re going to go over there and make it happen.”
Van also commended the Pike County Military Support Group and the unit’s Family Readiness Group, which he said will support the families while the soldiers are in Iraq.
Bobby McDaniel, Pike County Military Support Group chairman, told the soldiers that the group was ready to help their families.
“We thank you for the mission that you are about to go on,” he said. “You can do your job, knowing you have us to support your families.”
To the families, McDaniel said, “We want to be able to help you in any way we can.”
Freeman told the families that he believed the support groups “can help you with 99 percent of your problems.”
The short program left the soldiers and their families time for one more good-bye before departing for Camp Shelby. The next time most of the troops and their families will be able to get together is in early June, when the unit has a final send-off at Camp Shelby before leaving for Iraq.
Saying goodbye Monday was especially tough for Spc. Anthony King and his wife Samantha, who were married Sunday. This deployment is Anthony King’s first.
“It’s very scary and unpredictable,” said Samantha King as she held her 17-month-old son, Tyler Populis.
“I don’t know what to do. I support him 100 percent, but it’s killing me.”
Anthony King called the deployment “exciting and sad. I’m glad I’m going, but I’m leaving my family. I don’t know what to expect.”
Under normal circumstances, he is a truck driver for the 1-155th. He does not know what he will be doing in Iraq.
He added that he knows the situation will be tough on his wife, who suddenly becomes the head of the household.
Sgt. Clifton Allen is going on his second deployment. He was with the 1-155th during it’s first deployment.
“I don’t see any difference (between deployments) Allen, a cook for the unit, said. “I’m going to do a job and come back.”
Allen said his job “will be to supervise the guys (cooks) from KBR (contractors Kellogg Brown and Root).”
His parents, Flower and Margie Allen, say they support him.
“He’s going to do what he’s got to do,” Flower Allen said.
Allen’s cousin, Orlando Thompson, is a 26-year veteran of the 1-155th. This deployment is his second. His usual assignment is in artillery, but he is not sure what it will be on this deployment.
“I went over once before and I’m ready to go again,” he said. “And if we have to do it again, I’d do it proudly.”
The unit’s pride had spread to the people lining the parade route as the 1-55th moved east on Delaware.
It was a mixed crowd along the route that was light in some areas and heavy in other areas.
“I think the crowd was larger the last time (2004),” Johnston said. “The last time, you couldn’t walk along the sidewalks.”
He believed the turnout may have been down because this is the unit’s second deployment.
The crowd’s enthusiasm, however, was greater than its numbers. As the column made its way to West Avenue, people clapped and cheered.
One bystander yelled out, “Come home safe.”
“Always do,” Johnston replied.
A little later, he saw a small boy and waved to him.
“That’s my buddy,” he told Temple. “He’s 7 years old and he’s smart.”
People on Delaware waved flags and held signs saying, “We love our troops.” Students from Kennedy Elementary held up a sign saying, “Kennedy Elementary Supports our Troops,” while a student displayed a sign saying, “155th Rocks.”
Another sign on the route said, “155, our love and prayers are with you.”
“This is overwhelming,” Temple said, as he maneuvered the Humvee on the street.
A sheriff’s deputy at the intersection of Delaware and Michigan looked at the Humvee and said, “Thank you brother,” while another spectator later on said, “God bless.”
Johnston waved and talked to the people along the route, calling many by name.
“It’s great when you see people who you know, but they don’t remember your face,” he said.
“It’s wonderful that we have these guys standing up for us and I support them,” said McComb city employee Jackie Robinson who held a small flag as he watched the column on Delaware Street in front of St. Alphonsus.
“Without them, we don’t know where we would be. We ask that God will protect them on their trip and while they are doing their duty, and bring them home safely.”
