Friends and family bid farewell to 80 soldiers from C Troop, 126th Cavalry, Michigan Army National Guard, on Saturday at Union High School as they depart for Camp Shelby, Miss., then Afghanistan for a 12-month tour of duty.
Lt. Col. Mark Tellier of Grand Rapids,  the squadron commander who led the formation into the DUHS gymnasium, greeted the “cowboys” with, “We’ve been training hard … To the friends, families and community of Dowagiac, it is my privilege and honor to stand here before all of you and celebrate that you are ready. You are preparing to go to a place not of your choosing, but you do so freely.  Those of us here today stand proud with the rest of America, knowing that Charlie Team will begin its journey this Friday to preserve the safety of this great nation. This is not without sacrifice to do this. Thank you to all the families … for these young men in the Guard, there are a lot of resources out there in the event that the families, those people back here, can be taken care of. Those soldiers who are deployed can have faith and comfort in their minds that the Michigan National Guard will continue to take care of families back here.”
“I assure all of you that your soldier will be the best trained, the best equipped and have the best leaders starting with Capt. Grant as troop commander and First Sgt. Henry. With that, I thank you, I support you, I bid you farewell and Godspeed,” Tellier said.
Capt. Mark Grant of Traverse City said the two things he learned at officer school about giving a speech were to keep it short ”before they realize how dumb you are,” and “second, always, always start with a quote from a famous dead guy. Mine for today’s speech is Isaiah of Old Testament fame.”
Grant recounted from the Bible the passage about the vision from God that there shall come a day when swords will be hammered into plowshares and spears into pruning shears.
“Nations will no longer learn to make war,” Grant said. ”I think we can all agree that this day we long await for, but until that day arrives, we have the men of C Troop standing guard for us. I’d like to take a moment to welcome all of you and thank you for coming to our going-away ceremony. It’s truly an honor to serve you and to be part of the local community here in Dowagiac. Dowagiac has a long, distinguished history of supporting U.S. soldiers as they prepare to go off to war. That support started in September of 1862 with the 19th Michigan Infantry, which mustered out of Dowagiac in preparation for combat in the deep South” during the Civil War.
Grant took command of C Troop after its previous deployment in 2008.
“We started to rebuild and prepare for this day,” the captain recalled. “It’s been a long and sometimes arduous road, made possible by the support of the American people, our local communities and each and every one of our families. I cannot express to you enough our deep appreciation for all that you do, all that you provide and the support, without which we as American soldiers would not be able to do this.”
“We are about to depart on our rendezvous with destiny,” Grant said. “We ask that you continue to provide comfort to our families that we leave behind and that you pray for our safe return in the fall of 2012.”
First Sgt. Michael Henry described the makeup of the formation — “a lot of young faces who just joined the Army in the last year, knowing that this day would come — and they volunteered anyway. Second, I want to recognize the many soldiers who have been in combat before and are going back again. Third, I want to acknowledge the families at home, who often get overlooked. Thank you for your support.”
After picture-taking and hugs outside DUHS, families and friends trooped across the street to the Armory for a dinner put together by VFW Post 1855.
Henry thanked Principal Paul Hartsig for letting the military use the high school.
Pastor John Kasper of First United Methodist Church prayed “for the blessings of this nation, the freedoms we enjoy and the opportunities we are given to share our blessings and freedoms with others … We pray to you, God, for the courage and strength, talents and abilities, that You have given to us, but especially to the men and women who are about to depart.”
C Troop, 126th Cavalry will be assigned a mission based on the needs of the theater commander.
More than 750 Michigan National Guard soldiers and airmen are deployed across the globe in support of the global war on terrorism; however, as the Michigan Guard Serves the nation abroad, more than 95 percent of the force is available, trained and ready to respond to a state emergency, including a terrorist event.