Next Monday, just before dawn, guardsmen from the Mississippi National Guard 2-114th Bravo Battery Field Artillery will leave the armories in Winona and Kosciusko for more than a year of overseas deployment.
Approximately 85 guardsmen from Winona and Kosciusko armories will be deploying. Their destination has not been disclosed.
According to Family Readiness Group Chair Calbrina Woods, Winona’s troops will leave the National Guard Armory on Monday, March 12 at 6 a.m. The convoy will leave the armory, head south on Highway 51, turn onto Middleton Road, head east on Highway 82, and turn south on Interstate 55 to Jackson.
For those wishing to take photos and see the troops off from the armory, Woods said they should be there by no later than 5:45 a.m.
The troops will be escorted by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department and the Winona Police Department.
Woods urged the community to line the convoy route in support of the troops. Hand-held American flags, donated by the City of Winona, are available at Winona City Hall for the public to display during the convoy. Winona Mayor Jerry Flowers and the Winona Board of Aldermen personally donated pocket Bibles to each soldier deploying. The donation of 100 camouflage pocket Bibles was the idea of Alderman David Ware, Flowers said.
In Kosciusko, the convoy will leave the armory at 5:30 a.m. and will be escorted by the Kosciusko Police Department, the American Legion Riders Post 44 and the Patriot Guard Riders.
Woods said community well-wishers are allowed to line the convoy route on Highway 12 at CVS Pharmacy and Exxon and Highway 35 to Walmart. However, Woods asked that well-wishers not line up past Walmart on Highway 35 for safety reasons.
Monday, a special family day was held prior to the troops’ deployment, and the soldiers, along with their families, filled the Kosciusko Armory for a meal and family fun.
“We planned an Easter egg hunt because the soldiers won’t be here for Easter,” Woods said.
Special guests like Colonel Rodney Bowman and Kosciusko Mayor Jimmy Cockroft spoke to the group. Winona Mayor Jerry Flowers, who was unable to attend, shared his support through a special message delivered by Cockroft, Woods said.
For months, Woods and other Family Readiness Group volunteers have worked with the soldiers and their families in preparation for deployment. A popular new program, The “Listen to Me” program provided soldiers the opportunity to leave seven-minute video sessions to be sent to their families after the deployment.
Woods, who chaired the “Listen to Me” program and filmed the soldiers’ messages, said some of the 150 messages filmed included three marriage proposals and a special message from a longtime Vacation Bible School volunteer to this year’s group of children he will not teach due to his deployment.
“[The soldier] has done Bible School for eight years,” Woods said. “The kids call him G.I. Joe. I had to stop the video because he got choked up.”
Woods thanked retired Montgomery County Superintendent of Education and Winona High School coach Joe Moore for his donation of 25 thumb drives for the “Listen to Me” program.
For more information on how you can be involved to show your support for the deploying troops, contact Woods at 662-753-1659.
