National guardsmen doing well overseas

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December 9, 2009

By Leslie N. Dees The Star Herald Wed Dec 09, 2009, 11:17 AM CST

Editor’s note: The Star-Herald conducted these interviews during the last two weeks of November via e-mail and phone.

Soldiers with the 155th Brigade, 2nd 114th Battalion National Guard Unit are doing well on their second tour of duty in Iraq, according to Capt. Matt Jollit.

Jollit said the unit could be coming home somewhere around March. Once back in Mississippi, they will have to spend some time at Camp Shelby and go through the demobilization process.

Thanksgiving

“We had a good Thanksgiving,” Jollit said. “We all had to work a normal day and some of the soldiers had their regularly scheduled missions.”

The battalion is doing mainly security detail.

“Our battery had a special convoy to meet Major Gen. William Freeman, the State's adjutant general, and Command Sgt. Major Cooley, who flew in briefly to meet the soldiers and to see our progress in country,” he said.

Although they were far away from the usual Thanksgiving with their loved ones, they did have a Thanksgiving all their own.

Lots of food

“We had a huge meal with all the trimmings. It was good, but never as good as what we can get back home,” he said. “It's always better when it's made with a little TLC and shared with family.”

Trash talk

Of course, what would Thanksgiving be without a little football talk

“This time of year also goes by a lot faster when everyone is looking forward to the weekend football match-ups,” he said. We have soldiers from all over the U.S. attached to the unit. So we have a wide variety: Texas fans, State fans, Ole Miss fans, Alabama fans, and even Ohio State fans. That’s just a small sampling.”

“So you can imagine some of the trash talking that happened before the Egg Bowl,” he said.

Talking with family

Jollit said this deployment is a lot different than the last when it comes to talking to friends and family.

“They now offer a civilian run internet service, so most of the guys use their own computers to contact family and friends,” he said.

Packages from home

Jollit said they have received numerous care packages from home and they are all so thankful for them.

They have gotten everything from toiletries to paperback books to snacks.

“It’s really nice to know someone is thinking of us,” he said.

“Hopefully, we are making everyone proud,” he said.

About 90 soldiers from the Attala County area are in the unit.

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