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Monday, February 21, 2005 10:26 AM CST
Big welcome awaits Guard unit
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
PARIS -- The streets of Paris will be decked out in red, white and blue and lined with well-wishers Tuesday afternoon to welcome home the 1544th Transportation Co. from Iraq.
The Illinois National Guard company's route to its Paris home base and a ceremony on the courthouse square also will be dotted by students and staff from Edgar County schools, including the Kansas school district.
"It's a big deal when you get an opportunity to meet troops who have been out fighting for their country," said Kansas Superintendent Chris Long. "We are glad to have them back."
Community members already have started decorating Paris to greet the approximately 160 soldiers who are tentatively set to arrive between 1 and 2 p.m. Tuesday. They are currently at Fort McCoy, Wis.
"We are all excited," said city Utility Clerk Barb Asbury as she ran through a long list of patriotic decorations. These will include bows and banners along the streets, flags draped from fire trucks and hundreds of miniature flags that will be passed out to the crowds.
The National Guard reported that the soldiers' buses will travel south to Paris along Illinois Route 1. They will make a loop through the heart of town by traveling south along Central Street to Jasper/Illinois Route 16 and then going north on Main Street to Paris High School.
After debarking at the school, the soldiers will march north to the courthouse. There they will go into formation on the east side of the courthouse by the war memorial.
The ceremony for the returning soldiers will be brief, with the goal of releasing them to their loved ones as soon as possible, National Guard officials said. A large crowd is expected, and the public is encouraged to get there at least a half hour before the solders' expected arrival time because streets will be closed.
Paris resident Jackie Kraemer said she will be on the square to welcome home her husband, Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Kraemer. The couple's children will be with their school classes along the street. She said they are just as enthused as she is about his return.
"Every day we get this countdown," Kraemer said of her children's anxiousness. "Their excitement is just unreal."
Paris students have been assembling signs to decorate the streets, and the high school band will perform "The Star-Spangled Banner" and taps on the square.
School Superintendent Connie Sutton said many soldiers in the 1544th are Paris High School graduates, as was 26-year-old Sgt. Shawna Morrison. She was killed in September in a mortar attack that also claimed the life of Spc. Charles Lamb, 23, of Casey.
"It brings it a lot closer to home," Sutton said of the school's connections to the 1544th.
The transportation company lost a total of five soldiers, all to enemy fire, during its year-long deployment, the highest number for any Illinois National Guard unit in Iraq. In addition, 33 members of the unit were wounded.
As 120 balloons are released during the ceremony, five black balloons will also be released bearing the message "In memory and honor of."
"I feel so bad for the families of the five that are not coming home," Kraemer said.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 348-5734.
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MARYROSECOHOON1998@ATT.NET wrote on Sep 28, 2007 10:03 PM: