Today the residents of Starkivlle and Oktibbeha County honored the military in the area. Tomorrow the soldiers of the Mississippi National Guard 114th Field Artillery depart for some additional training and will then be deployed to Iraq. Just a few months ago the US Army Reserve 324th Replacement Batallion returned from Kuwait. In addition to these Soldiers, there are also Sailors, Marines, and Airmen in the rea who are affiliated with other military units that are necessarily located in the area.

The idea for the ceremony honoring the military came from the Military Affairs Committee of the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, of which I am vice-chair. I was also the master of ceremonies for the event which included the vice-mayor of Starkville, the vice-president of the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors, and the president of Mississippi State University. But the truly special speakers were the Commanders of the 324th and the 114th. The speeches were, for the most part, good and on target.

I also made some remarks, but mine were directed more to the troops. Perhaps it was the commander in me coming out but I wanted to motivate the troops a little. There have been some negative reports about the evnts in Iraq and I wanted to make the troops knew that they were doing the right thing; they were providing hope to a new generation of Iraqis, and they had our support. My remarks are posted here.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about the day were the numbers of people presnet. The weather was not cooperative at all. It had been clioudy all day, had rained off and on all morning, and started to rain just a few minutes before the 1530 ceremony began. In spite of that, the turn-out was terrific. The troops certainly saw the community support, and that was, after all, the purpose of the event.