By Janet Braswell
American Senior Writer
jbraswell@hattiesb.gannett.com

James Maples understood the importance of making the 600-mile trip from Knoxville, Tenn., to sit on hard metal bleachers at Camp Shelby and watch the 278th Regimental Combat Team pass in review Thursday.

The former infantryman remembered the loneliness when he left for war more than 50 years ago and didn't want his son, Staff Sgt. Larry Maples, or the other 4,000 soldiers in the team to feel it.

"Used to, in World War II, you couldn't go no farther than the train station," he said. "I came down here to support them and let them know we love them. That goes a long way."

The soldiers of the 278th Regimental Combat Team, about 3,200 of them from Tennessee, have been training at Camp Shelby for five months. They will begin leaving within the week for service in Iraq.

"I hope everyone stays safe," said Carolyn Meek, 62, of Lebanon, Tenn. Her brother, 1st Sgt. Leroy Jackson, 54, of Morriston, Tenn., is in the regiment.

Meek will rely on prayer, letters and e-mail while her brother, an assistant high school principal, is gone.

"As long as we can communicate and he can keep in touch, that will get him through it," she said.

The Tennessee soldiers, along with troops from Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Vermont and Wisconsin, gathered on the Camp Shelby parade field to hear military and civilian officials wish them well.

"Mississippi and Camp Shelby in particular are pleased to have had the opportunity to help these men and women prepare," Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said. "For those of you with the 278th Regimental Combat Team, we wish you great success, continued strength and total victory. God bless you and God bless America."

The troops spent about three weeks perfecting desert warfare skills at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., before going home on leave. Many returned to Camp Shelby with their families.

"It's hard to have thoughts right now," said Melissa Harless of Pine Knot, Ky., as she waited for the ceremony to begin. "I guess I'm a little emotional today because it's getting close to time for him to go." Her husband, Sgt. George Harless, serves with the 278th in Oneida, Tenn.

More than 180,000 National Guard and Reserve troops are currently on active duty nationwide.

"This nation should never send its young men and women to war without the National Guard," said Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau. "When you call out the National Guard, you call out America. When all of America is involved, there can be no other outcome than total victory."

The troops received first-class training at Camp Shelby and millions of dollars have been spent preparing them for their mission, he said.

"You are better led, better trained, better equipped and have better individual protective equipment than any other American soldier who ever went to war," he said.

Col. Dennis Adams of Knoxville, the 278th's 48-year-old commander, thanked the troops for their willingness to serve and their families for their support.

"You hear of the 12th man on the football team," said Adams, a former high school football and basketball coach. "I've felt your impact for the past five months. It's like having an extra squadron."

He asked them to remember who to blame for putting their soldiers in harm's way.

"It's not your soldiers," he said. "It's not your government. It's the scoundrels who attacked us on Sept. 11. There is never a convenient place to fight a war another man starts. The terrorists started this war. We are going to finish it."

The training at Camp Shelby and Fort Irwin prepared them for the deployment, said Sgt. Mark Roberts, 43, of Kingsport, Tenn.

"It's good training," he said. "It gets you built up, brings the strength out in you, gets you ready for the mission you're going to perform for your country."

The troops must stick together, stay alert and rely on God, said Roberts, a veteran of Operation Desert Storm.

"Pray, and hope you can get up the next morning and see the sunrise and see the sunset that night," he said.

Originally published Friday, November 12, 2004

Story Copyright to HattiesburgAmerican.com