Local News
Local Guard members bid farewell before deployment
GLEN JEAN — Hundreds of local patriots bid a bittersweet farewell to some of their finest and bravest Wednesday at the Glen Jean National Guard Armory as the C Troop 1/150th “Comanches” and D Company 230th “Dragons” suited up for their latest mission to Iraq in defense of the American experience.
“We will be here waiting for you and awaiting your safe return,” said a tearful Crystal Walker, representing the Family Readiness Group. Walker wept as she also read a poem titled “I Am.”
“Thank you so much for what you’re doing for your country. We appreciate it so much,” she added, to thunderous applause.
Col. Ronald L. Scarbro, a retired Army veteran of the Vietnam War, urged the soldiers to keep in contact with their loved ones at home, bearing in mind the enormous responsibility borne by those family members.
“Stay in communication with your loved ones as often as you can. Taking time to sit and write a letter (when Scarbro was in the Army) gave me the courage to tell them what they mean to me,” Scarbro emphasized. “We are more than soldiers. We are a family. God speed. Have pride.”
Another retired Army colonel and Vietnam War veteran, William Aldridge, asked that a pair of soldiers in attendance take the symbolic flags of the 1/150th and 230th units around the room and allow the other soldiers to touch them as a sign of unity.
“Those flags will be planted firmly in the sands of Iraq,” declared Aldridge, who described himself as “an Army brat and proud of it.” Wednesday’s ceremony, he recalled, is an American tradition that stems back to 1776.
“A man would saddle up, kiss his wife goodbye and go do his mission,” Aldridge said.
He added that, while the departure ceremony is difficult, it is a day the soldiers will remember until the day they die. “You’ll always remember that last talk with your child, that last talk with your wife.”
Having left with a sense of pride, the return ceremony “is one of the sweetest things ever,” Aldridge asserted.
“Who volunteers for this? Someone who feels the calling,” he said as he tapped his heart with his right hand.
A letter from Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., was read by one of his staffers “on behalf of a grateful state and nation.”
In a fitting tribute to Wednesday’s event in Glen Jean, a soldier shook hands with a civilian he knew and thanked him for coming. “Thank you for going,” the man replied.
— E-mail: mhill@register-herald.com
- Local News
-
-
Nuttall Mine structures, historic district get funds
The National Park Service has approved $6.88 million in federal funds for the New River Gorge National River to stabilize and preserve the historic Nuttall Mine structures and make the Nuttallburg Mining Complex and Town Historic District in Fayette County ready for visitors, Rep. Nick Rahall announced Friday.
-
Fundraiser all about the water
Do you like clean streams and rivers?
Prove it. -
Good times
The Midland Trail High School players and fans celebrate their section basketball championship over Fayetteville Friday in Fayetteville.
-
Former fire president, deputy arrested for pocketing funds
A former Fayette County sheriff’s deputy and former fire department president who State Police say took about $374,000 in fire funds was arrested Monday.
-
River recognized by magazine’s readers
The New River gained more kudos recently as it was named the Best Whitewater River by readers of Get Out!, the online magazine of outdoor adventure in the Ohio River region. Snowshoe Mountain also was chosen as Best Ski Resort by the magazine’s readers.
-
Fayetteville women ‘Read Across America’
Members of GFWC Fayetteville Junior Woman’s Club and GFWC Fayetteville Woman’s Club visited Fayetteville Elementary School last week during the Read Across America event to remind FES students of the joys of reading.
-
‘Way Out West’ to open at HFT
It’s not “Unforgiven,” “Gunsmoke,” nor even “Blazing Saddles,” but “Way Out West In A Dress, Or Life’s A Hurdle When Your Wearin' A Girdle” is, well, let’s just say a different kind of western about a big misunderstanding and a cover-up, but still with plenty of the standard “good triumphing over evil.”
-
Management plan available for review; meetings scheduled
Members of the public have the opportunity to study the results of hours of scoping sessions and background work as the National Park Service’s draft General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (GMP) and draft Foundation Plan for New River Gorge National River have been released for public review and input.
-
Digging out
The old saw claims “Everyone complains about the weather, but no one does anything about it.”
-
Innovative water project awarded stimulus funding
A West Virginia American Water project in Fayette County has been selected by the state Department of Health and Human Resources to receive $3.85 million in federal stimulus money.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Nuttall Mine structures, historic district get funds


