Calhoun resident, Sgt. Floyd Grooms, hugs daughters Misty Trammell (left) and Rebecca Garrett, while daughter April Eaton behind them wipes away a tear as they tell their father goodbye outside Joint Forces Headquarters Tuesday. 

More Georgia Soldiers Mobilize for Operation Iraqi Freedom

By Sgt. Roy Henry
Georgia National Guard 
Public Affairs Office

At age 50, the father of three grown daughters and elder to seven grandchildren, some may not have thought that Sgt. Floyd Grooms would want to be deployed, but he does, and he did, Tuesday.

Grooms, an M1A1 Abrams tank mechanic with Calhoun's Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 108th Armor, is among the 44 Soldiers who said goodbye to families and friends, boarded buses at the Georgia National Guard's Joint Forces Headquarters in Ellenwood and began the long journey to war.

Like Grooms, they come from community across the state, and they come from a cross section of military professions, armor and infantry, aviation and administration to mention a few. Almost all of them come from rear detachments manning the armories that house elements of Georgia's 48th Brigade Combat Team. Others are from Decatur's 78th Troop Command and Georgia's 171st Aviation in Marietta.

The Soldier's first stop is Fort Drum in New York, where they'll spend about 21 days training in basic Soldiers skills such as weapons qualification, first aid and land navigation. They'll also be instructed in "theater specific" tasks such as dealing with security operations, and Middle East customs and courtesies.

Once that's done, the 44 will move onto Iraq where they'll take up their various assignments with the 48th. 

"Figure I'll end up with 108th, probably not working on tanks - on generators - cause I've been picked up at my old job skill as a generator mechanic," Grooms said. "Makes no difference, though, whether it's tanks or generators...I'm a Soldier and I'll do what needs to be done."

Darlene, Grooms wife, daughters April Eaton, Rebecca Garrett and Misty Trammell waited with him until it was time to get on the bus. Grooms son-in-law Jeff Linder stood quietly by, a small American flag in hand, trying hard to comfort the others, yet showing signs of his own sadness as his father-in-law prepared to leave. 

"I know this is something he must do, but it doesn't make it any easier for any of us," Darlene said, holding her husband's hand tightly. It's a time of mixed emotions and apprehension, she said.

"Yet, we'll get through this and so will he because we'll support him and pray for him, and all those who are in harm's way," Darlene Grooms said. "They are with us always, no matter where they are, and we want them all to come home safely."

While this isn't the first time Grooms has deployed, he spent a year as an active duty Soldier in Viet Nam during that war and was with 108th Armor when the 48th was called up for the first Gulf War, it's different for fellow Guardsman Pvt. Joseph Burns. 

For this 24-year-old military truck driver from Calhoun, this is his first deployment, his fist taste of war. 

"I'm nervous, I guess, but I feel good about what we're doing, about what I'm doing," Burns said.

And unlike Grooms, Burns family didn't come to see him off. Not because they didn't care, but because they said their goodbyes at home. He and his wife Tiffany decided it was better that way for their one-year-old son. Also she is pregnant with their second child, who'll be born while he's away.

"That's one of the big things I hate not being here for," he said, "but I'll see him, or her, when I come home for R&R and when I come home for good."

While he knows anything can happen in war, he remains confident, Burns said, that he will come home. After all, there's so much love, prayers and support out there for him and his fellow Soldiers not to believe it won't happen.