A Local Group Gives Troops A Proper Send Off

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – As troops from all over the Magnolia State prepare to embark on an overseas mission, a local group out of Starkville is sending them off with a bang.

Coping with Military deployment isn’t easy for anyone but especially the women and men in uniform.

“It’s a bittersweet time. None of us want to leave. None of us want to go. At the same time we have a job to do,” said Chaplin 1st Lt. Scott Edwards.

Edwards is apart of the 2 114th Field Artillery Battalion.

“We’ll be leaving soon going on a deployment to the middle east and we’re very excited about that. The soldiers have been working super hard over the last several years honestly to get ready to this point and we’re excited to go forward and do the mission we’ve been given,” said Edwards.

There will be several hundred troops to hit the road in this deployment and Family Readiness Group officer and Scott’s wife, Lydia Edwards says that’s why rolling out the red carpet was a necessity.

“On Monday we’re getting ready to have a send off. It will start at the Armory, that morning getting ready, loading the buses. They can start lining the streets around 10:30- 10:45 and they will actually leave at 11 a.m. They can park at the armory all the way down to highway 12. We’re hoping for an 11 a.m. dismissal. It could be a little bit earlier it could be a little bit later,” said Lydia Edwards.

The troops officially leave on Monday for more training then they will actual deploy later this year. Edwards says he is so excited to know that the troops are coming from a great base of support.

“It’s humbling and very honorable that the community wants to come together and give us a big send off like that. We’ve got a lot of folks that will be leaving for a long time. To see the community come together and wish us well means a whole lot,” said Edwards.

“It’s a bittersweet time and we’re going to miss them. We just hope that our families remember and our soldiers remember that our community is supporting them and that we love them so much,” said Lydia Edwards.