Guard Continues To Arrive Home

November 10, 2005

Residents along Baker Highway, U.S. Hwy. 27 and Airport Road stepped onto their front porches Sunday afternoon to see what all the ruckus was about.

Wailing sirens cut through the otherwise-calm Sunday afternoon as an escort of three Tennessee Highway Patrol units, two Scott County Sheriff’s Department units and one Oneida Police Department unit, along with a unit from the Mid-County Volunteer Fire Department, provided an escort befitting dignitary for a bus carrying several members of the locally-based 278th Regimental Combat Team to the Oneida National Guard Armory Sunday afternoon.

As the procession arrived at the armory, there was little doubt what the ruckus was about to the two dozen or so family members who had gathered, some of whom had not seen their loved ones in 12 months as the 278th served in Iraq.

Sunday’s reunion at the armory was one of many that have taken place across Tennessee over the past several days as members of the 278th RCT returned from Camp Shelby, Mississippi, where the guardsmen and women of the 278th had been undergoing debriefings and processing since returning from the Middle East last week.

The first of more than two dozen soldiers from the Oneida unit returned in a caravan of private vehicles to the armory on Wednesday afternoon. On hand to welcome them were County Mayor Dwight Murphy and Scott County Veterans Services Officer Ron Keeton.

The second group arrived on Sunday, with some trickling in in the days between and more expected to arrive in the following days as the last of the soldiers made their return to East Tennessee.

The 278th Regimental Combat Team was deployed to Iraq in November 2004. They began active duty in June 2004 with training in California and Camp Shelby before departing for Iraq.

Next week, the Independent Herald takes an in-depth look at the experiences of Scott County’s guardsmen in Iraq.

newsroom@ihoneida.com

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