A Small Town's Pride for Its Soldiers in Iraq

Few events are more heart warming than when a group of people come together to support one another through a difficult time.

The nation witnessed the wonders of unity following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center.

Columbine High School and its community supported the traumatized students after the fatal rampage of two troubled teenagers.

My community of Cedar City, Utah, pulled together when the local 222 Field Artillery Army National Guard Battalion received their deployment orders. Iraq was the destination.

The 222, locally known as the triple deuce, is based in the small southern Utah town of Cedar City. Many young men and women join the triple deuce upon graduating from high school, feeling an obligation to return service to their country. So many join, in fact, that literally everyone in Cedar City has a child, sibling, or neighbor in the unit. Perhaps that explains why Cedar City mourned as one when the commander of the battalion announced the units deployment orders back in 2005.

Word got out quickly. Soon after the announcement, the local newspaper dedicated whole pages toward the 222. Businesses promptly displayed signs wishing the 222 good luck and fortune. Even billboards were praising the unit. The community came together, taking pride in their young soldiers and their Iraq deployment.

Despite the unity, this was not a joyful event. On the contrary, mothers cried, fathers silently worried, and neighbors and siblings wondered if their brothers and sisters would return from Iraq. Although none of my older siblings were in the unit, I had many neighbors that volunteered their time to serve in the Guard. I would have to say goodbye. Being the young, 14-year-old skeptic I was, I doubted I would ever see them again. Alive, that is.